A line was drawn in the black beads dwelling in the turf at Sussex Academy April 12, as the girls’ lacrosse team made the stand of the season during a 9-8 win over Tatnall.

For about six minutes in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks defended their cage, as the Hornets could not penetrate an in-sync, communicative Sussex Academy defense with the game tied 8-8.

“We've been working really hard on communicating with each other through situations where we’re tired and it’s intense,” said junior Lily Bisaha. 

Following the stop, Sussex Academy’s offense hit some barriers of its own before sophomore Liz Layton scored the game-winner with 10 seconds left.

“We've been practicing a lot at how to really come at the goal, and it felt good to score the game-winner,” Layton said.

Before the fourth-quarter mayhem, the two top-tier programs traded blows, and leads, in what appeared to be an even contest. Senior Shelby Manlove netted a pair in the opening frame, while Emiley Bisaha added another in the 3-3 first quarter.

Tatnall came out hot with two straight goals in the second quarter, but the Seahawks rattled off three straight when Layton, Emiley Bisaha and Manlove scored to give Sussex Academy a 6-5 lead at the break.

“We were valuing all the possessions to make sure that it's the best look at goal so we can score and not have a turnover,” Layton said.

Tatnall took the lead out of the half with three straight goals. Trailing 8-6, the Seahawks got a lifeline from junior Shea Danahy when she scored her first goal of the contest.

Emiley Bisaha clinched a hat trick with the tying goal before her young sister, Lily, and the Sussex Academy defense made an epic stand with the game tied 8-8. Team play ruled the day.

“I knew my teammates were there for the slide, so it helped us play a lot more composed,” Lily Bisaha said. “Definitely stressful. The key is not thinking about the pressure that comes with it; stay composed, and just focus on every moment.”

Senior goalie Morgan Leeper played a big part in the stand with smart play.

“It was a very intense game, especially having those six minutes on our defensive end,” Leeper said. “All around, though, we put the pieces together, and we played as a team today, and it was really good to watch from the cage.”

Leeper collected 10 saves, including a few on free shots.

“It was tiring; I won't lie. Tatnall did a really good job of playing strong offense, but I think our defense knew what to do,” Leeper said.

“We've been working on that during practice all week long, so to be able to actually apply it to our game today was really nice,” said coach Taylor Gibbs. “It says a lot about our defense in general. We played as a unit, even though we were in a man defense, which we usually don't play.”

Following the stand, Manlove and Emiley Bisaha both dodged and got good looks on the cage, but Tatnall’s Caroline Novkovic picked up a few of her 17 saves in those final two minutes. With 10 seconds left to go, Layton stole the show.

“We've been talking a lot about how every single person on our team needs to step up on offense to make these big wins happen,” Gibbs said. “That just goes to show that she came mentally prepared.”

The skipper was quite happy with the complete victory.

“This was our first real team win,” Gibbs said. “Everyone on the field contributed to this win, and it sets us up for what we're going to see coming up in these next few weeks with tough games where we're going to have to play as a team to win.”