Considering the Franklin girls lacrosse program is only three years old, a regional playoff victory and a good showing against an established program like Waukesha would have been a great step for the fledgling Sabers.
But that wasn’t good enough for coach Jill Kyhn, who told her team that a state title in 2017 was well within their reach. They took one more step toward that goal Saturday evening as the Sabers took out Waukesha, 8-7, in overtime to advance to the state semifinals.
“We’re only three years into our program, and we have absolutely crushed it,” Kyhn said. “We know we’re not done. We’re looking for that state championship this year. We have the talent, we have the ability and we have the work ethic. It’s amazing how far we’ve come a long way.”
It certainly wasn’t easy for Franklin (12-5), which took a 4-2 lead after the first half. Waukesha (18-5) took control from there, scoring three unanswered goals – including two from senior middie Rina Niehoff to take a 5-4 lead.
The Sabers and Nighthawks traded goals the rest of the second half, with the lead changing hands three times before Waukesha took an 8-7 lead with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game on a goal by senior attack Catherine Raster.
It looked like Waukesha would advance to the semis until Franklin forced a turnover with 37 seconds left in regulation. Junior middie Cassie Allard was awarded an 8-meter arc shot, which she converted with 3 seconds in regulation to send the game into overtime.
“Cassie is a baller,” Kyhn said. “We talked to her before the game and we said, ‘You’re going to get that goal,’ and she got that goal.”
In overtime, it was sophomore middie Bella Barnard’s turn to play hero. She sent the Sabers to the semis with a goal off the arc at 1:39 in overtime, setting off a celebration three years in the making while silencing critics who said Franklin still wasn’t ready for a strong state run.
“A lot of the programs are saying how surprised they are that we’re coming this far, and we’re actually giving teams a good challenge,” Barnard said. “We just wanted to take out one of the teams in the top four and get an upset.”
Franklin also relied on freshman goalie Maddie Webler, who made her first varsity start in the most pressure-packed situation possible. Webler responded with 15 saves, include a number of stops on 8-meter shots, that kept the Sabers in the hunt the entire game.
“She absolutely stepped in and stepped up,” Kyhn said.
With the loss of 12 seniors who represent 70 percent of the scoring output, Waukesha coach Bill Paquin admitted it will be difficult to replace the class of 2017 in the coming years.
“Many of our seniors in the top of the scoring in our program’s history,” he said. “It’s going to be a chore that we’re going to have as a coaching staff to replace that.”
Next up for Franklin is perennial power Arrowhead Red on Wednesday.
Other Girls Quarter FInal Saturday Scores
WNS 14
Mukwonago 6
Arrowhead Red 17
Waunakee 1
University School 18
Middleton 7
