Fast start leads GV past Radnor, to Central crown

RADNOR — Tina Rawa and her Garnet Valley teammates didn’t need much of a primer about what was on the line Thursday afternoon.

With only two Central League games left, the stakes were obvious. Garnet Valley, unbeaten, entered as the top seed in District 1’s Class 3A rankings. Radnor was tops in Class 2A. Neither had a blemish in nine league matches.

“It meant everything to us,” Rawa said. “This was always our No. 1 goal for years. And this was the year to get it done.”

Rawa and the Jaguars didn’t leave any doubt, with three first-half goals powering a 5-1 romp over the shorthanded Raiders.

Rawa assisted on both of Kendall DiCamillo’s goals, and Sophie Easter scored twice for the Jags (17-0, 10-0 Central), who are guaranteed at least a share of the league crown and can clinch it outright next Tuesday against Penncrest. As the leader of a dynamic midfield, Rawa led the effort all day.

Her imprint on the first goal was subtler. Eight minutes into the game, Rawa lofted a restart from her own half over the Radnor midfield to Easter on the left wing. She eventually turned the ball centrally to Alicia Bartosik, who found Mary Rose Berry in the middle to bury the opener.

“That play definitely was something that, I’ve always been practicing my aerials,” Rawa said. “So I saw that space opened by Sophie, and I was going to give it a try, and I found her and she was able to stop it really well, get a quick pass off to Mary Rose and she was able to put it in.”

The play was emblematic of the Jags’ midfield dominance. The midfield trio of Bartosik, Rawa and Morgan McClintock governed the middle of the field, particularly early on. Rawa’s knack for being in the right spot turned into extra possessions for the Jaguars, and coupled with the ability of Claire Wolfe to sit in front of the defense and sweep up any balls that trickled through, the Jaguars formed a nearly impenetrable line.

When Radnor (12-2, 9-1) did get through, it was either speculative balls played into space or at a heavy cost to pick through the traffic, denting their forward momentum.

“We’ve just, as a whole team, have such a close connection to each other,” Rawa said. “We’ve been playing with each other for such a long time that those connections just come very natural to us, and we’re always trying to support each other wherever the ball is.”

The connection applied to corners, with Garnet Valley scoring on its first three attempts. Rawa’s shot from the top of the circle on the first was tipped home by DiCamillo, making it 2-0 within eight minutes.

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Garnet Valley’s Sophie Easter, right, possesses the ball as Radnor’s Margaret Mooney defends Thursday. Easter scored two goals as the Jaguars won, 5-1, to claim at least a share of the Central League title. (Pete Bannan/MediaNews Group