FRONTENAC – Ladue sophomore Sadie Steinbach took the ball to the 8-meter spot, took a breath and took stock of the situation.
Three quick goals by Visitation had severely shrunk the Ladue lead and Steinbach understood the momentum-changing moment in front of her.
“I knew we really needed it,” Steinbach said.
Steinbach darted, dodged and delivered what proved to be the dagger as Ladue held off a furious fourth quarter charge to defeat Visitation 8-5 in a physical girls lacrosse battle Thursday at Visitation Academy.
Ladue (9-1) won its ninth consecutive game after suffering a 11-goal drubbing to Eureka in the season opener.
“Minor setback, major comeback,” senior captain Colette Brennan said. “A little bit of adversity is good. You need to be humbled to work harder and that what Eureka did for us.”
That hard work was exemplified by Brennan in the draw circle. Tied 1-1 after one quarter, Brennan used a self-draw technique to help Ladue earn four consecutive draw controls and occupy possession for almost the entirety of the second quarter.
“Lacrosse is such a momentum sport, going from the ride to transition to attack, and during that second quarter we had a lot of momentum,” Brennan said.
Crisp passing, patient shot selection and pinpoint goals by Vicky Derdoy, Steinbach, Lyla Sandler and Irene Murphy propelled Ladue to a 5-1 lead late in the second quarter.
“We are really good off-ball, and we set each other up for success,” Murphy said.
When Visitation finally earned possession, the Rams’ defense shut down driving lanes, intercepted passes and blocked shot attempts. Brennan and Murphy picked off passes to end the second quarter, and the combination of Melia Saffold, Claudia Gettins, Charley Patterson and Reade Stokes denied crease rolls and dodge attempts in the third.
In all, the Ladue defense held Visitation scoreless during the entirety of the second and third quarters and for over 31 minutes of game time.
“As a defense, we worked as a unit,” Brennan said. “(Visitation) has great athletes, and if you’re playing defense alone, you’re not playing defense. We all worked together and it was really dynamic.”
Sandler scored late in the third quarter to give the Rams a seemingly comfortable 6-1 lead, but Visitation had its own dynamic superstar who could not be contained in the fourth. Senior Molly Fesler, who eclipsed 200 points in her career earlier in the week, bravely pinballed between Ladue defenders to score three goals in 77 seconds, two via free position shots, and sliced the deficit to 6-4 with 8:13 remaining.
A tough, ground ball scoop by Visitation sophomore Claire Gunn resulted in a strong shot by Brigid Feldman that required an outstanding save by Ladue goalie Lillian Schappe and the momentum had switched heavily in favor of the Vivettes.
Moments later, Steinbach received a pass, found an alley and seemingly scored, but the whistle sounded before her shot entered the net, sending her to the 8-meter line with the direction of the game on her stick.
“We weren’t up by that much, so there was a little bit of pressure, but I got a decent angle,” Steinbach said.
The Ladue sophomore veered right, shot left and provided a much-needed insurance goal with 4:28 remaining.
“That (goal) really brought our energy up,” she said.
Soon after Steinbach’s goal, Visitation earned its fourth yellow card and had to remove a player permanently from the field, ultimately ending the chance of completing a comeback.
Visitation (6-4) lost a game by more than one goal for the first time this season. The Vivettes opened the season with one-goal losses to St. Joseph’s and Lockport (IL) and suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 setback to defending state champion Cor Jesu on April 15. Their average margin of victory this season is 11.8 goals and they have proven to be among the strongest teams in the area.
Ladue (9-1) continues to pile up signature wins. Last season, Ladue ended an 11-game losing streak to Warson Road neighbor MICDS with a 12-10 victory. On Tuesday, Ladue beat defending state champion Cor Jesu 13-11, then held on to defeat a hungry Visitation team two days later.
“We slowed down a little bit in the fourth quarter, but we pulled it together,” Brennan said of the win over Viz.
After losing its first 12 games in 2021, Ladue has certainly pulled it together, winning 46 of its last 57 games and establishing itself as one of the top programs in the St. Louis region.
As for the secret ingredients inside this current nine-game winning streak?
“We have a great connection, and we’ve learned from our mistakes,” Murphy said.
For a photo gallery from this game, visit: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/Girls-Lacrosse-2023-24/Girls-Lacrosse-2026/Ladue-vs-Visitation-4-23-26