Bill, Messina, Paloscio spur St. Anthony's girls

Maggie Bill set up about 8 yards right of the goal on a free position, the goalie in a ready stance locked in on her. At the whistle, Darcy Messina jogged slowly across from the far left and Bill lobbed a seemingly nonchalant pass to her.

Messina, with the defense by then lulled, exploded into the crease and fired into the upper left corner from point-blank range.

The two simply made eye contact, Messina explained, and each knew what the other was thinking.

Just like that, so easy and efficient, St. Anthony's went up six on Chatham Saturday. The final score -- 16-12 -- wasn't indicative of the Friars' dominance over the New Jersey girls lacrosse powerhouse.

That lead grew to 8 midway through the second half, and St. Anthony's looked every bit the team ranked fifth in the country. That is, before a spell of "comfort" set in and they allowed Chatham to pull close late.

"I think with the big lead, we got a little complacent," said Stephanie Paloscio, whose goal with 17:15 left put St. Anthony's up 12-4. "We had to realize they were gonna come back hard at us. Thankfully, we responded."

Paloscio had four goals, all in the second half, and three assists to lead the Friars (4-0). Bill had two goals and three assists, Kasey Behr two goals and two assists and Chrissy Schreiber, Alexis Nicolia and Annie Heagerty two goals each.

SEE PHOTOSSt. Anthony's 16, Chatham 12

Jaclyn Leto scored seven goals and Hannah Reader had nine saves for Chatham (2-2), ranked 47th nationally.

Kallan Murray's goal with 10:23 left pulled Chatham within 13-9, but the Cougars had another opportunity snatched away by Tori Holland (11 saves). The goalie snared a free-position shot and initiated a fast break with an outlet pass, after dodging two opponents and running to the 20. ("The fact that Tori can get around the crease and outrun some midfielders just adds to how great she is," Schreiber said.)

The Friars moved quickly with cross-field passes, eventually finding Bill, who swung it left to Paloscio for a goal with 8:30 remaining.

St. Anthony's won the ensuing draw and pushed it up field in a blink. This time, it was Behr feeding Paloscio for the score -- all within 13 seconds.

SEE PHOTOSGirls lacrosse players to watch

And just like that, the Friars regained control. "We always find a way to pull through," Messina said. "That's one of the strengths of this team."

Along with great talent and depth, of course.

"We wish we hadn't let them get back into it and there were some X's and O's we needed to fix, but [Chatham] is a good team," Friars coach Corinne Lomangino said. "I'm proud of how we did. They were tested today, and they answered."

Kelsey Perselay's goal with 4:07 remaining capped a 3-0 run that pulled the Cougars within 15-12, but the Friars' stall offense drained the clock, until Heagerty's goal with 26 seconds left.

"We know we can't afford to ever play below what we're capable of," Bill said. "We have big goals we're trying to achieve and we took another step toward it."

Just like that.