CREVE COEUR- On T-shirts and in their minds, MICDS girls lacrosse players have embodied the motto, “No Tomorrow.”
The phrase has served as a metaphorical reminder for players to treat every moment like it is their last time on the field. But when Ladue scored four consecutive goals and took the lead during their state quarterfinal matchup Tuesday, the metaphor became quite real.
“It’s the most literal it’s ever been,” junior Brooke Bernstein said.
Bernstein scored three times, including the game-tying and game-winning goals, and sophomore Amelia Mackin added four more as MICDS rallied to defeat Ladue 14-8 in a Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association state quarterfinal Tuesday at Ron Holtman Stadium.
MICDS (16-3), which advanced to its 12th consecutive state semifinal, will play Marquette (10-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Missouri Baptist University’s Spartan Field.
Eureka (16-1) will face John Burroughs (13-5) in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. at Missouri Baptist. The third-place game will be held at 9:00 a.m. Saturday and the MSLA state title game is slated at 11 a.m. Saturday – both at Missouri Baptist.
Led by the trio of Mackin, junior Hattie Sloane, and senior Madison Sineff, MICDS gained an advantage around both the draw circle and the 8-meter arc, and after Mackin and Caroline Koman converted free position shots, MICDS built an early 4-1 lead.
But powered by junior Yael Sabin, Ladue (14-1) turned an early weakness into a strength. Sabin converted from the 8-meter spot at the end of the first quarter, then won the opening draw and scored 19 seconds into the second quarter to slice the deficit to one.
Free position tallies by junior Izzy Dodson and sophomore Vicky Derdoy gave Ladue four consecutive goals and a 5-4 lead with four minutes remaining until halftime.
Ladue entered the quarterfinal contest with an unblemished 14-0 record. Due to tiered scheduling, the Rams did not play the upper echelon of area teams, but they still earned impressive victories over Nerinx Hall and Northwest Cedar Hill and a playoff win over Parkway West, all of which finished their seasons with 12-4 records.
“I feel like we don’t get the props that we should because we had a weaker schedule, but we came out and showed that (our record) is not a fluke,” Ladue coach Carrie Lampe said.
A midfield interception by Mackin changed the momentum.
She raced to the goal and fed Bernstein on the doorstep to tie the game. A minute later, Bernstein cashed in one of five assists from senior Ava Goldson to give MICDS a 6-5 lead at halftime.
“I found a fire,” Bernstein said. “I realized what the stakes were in this game and I flipped a switch.”
A halftime speech by MICDS captains Mikaela Mikulec and Sineff moved the switch into turbo mode.
“They told us, ‘This is not going to be our last game. It’s all or nothing and we’re here to win.’ That lit a fire under us,” Mackin said.
Led by senior Ella Etherington, high-pressure perimeter defense by MICDS caused mayhem and turnovers while keeping Ladue off the scoreboard for the first 10:50 of the third quarter.
“When they made that run, we had to take a moment and take a breath. We needed to focus on us – play clean, play our defense.” Etherington said. “We have the energy. We’ve done sprints and we’ve conditioned for this. It’s just finding it.”
While Etherington and the defense found an increase in energy level, the offense found the back of the net. Goals by Sineff, Josie Ciamarata and a pair by Mackin staked MICDS to a 10-5 lead.
Ladue trimmed the deficit to 12-8 on a goal by Kate Margulis with 9:16 remaining and applied a double-teaming defense to try to steal possessions, but MICDS found openings and tacked on a pair of late goals.
“We sold out to get the ball at the end,” Lampe said. “We wanted to go for the win. There’s no pride in losing by one or two goals.”
Ladue, which ran away from ill-mannered cicadas at practice a day earlier, ran right alongside a powerful MICDS squad for four quarters. With a team that graduates only four seniors, the future of the program looks bright.
“It’s definitely been an exciting season, and we’re really excited about the talent we have returning,” Lampe said.
And despite some tense, quarterfinal moments, there will be a tomorrow for MICDS, and it involves playing in the program’s 12th consecutive final four on Thursday in search of their 15th state title in the last 25 seasons.
“We just have to keep the ‘Go big or go home,’ mentality and channel our motto, ‘No tomorrow,’ Bernstein said.