With 35 seconds left in a Missouri State Lacrosse Association game between Northwest and Francis Howell in Cedar Hill on April 18, and the score tied 9-9, Raegan Shelton of the Lions took the game into her own hands.
A senior midfielder, Shelton won the all-important draw, similar to a face-off in hockey, and rushed toward the Viking goal.
“I knew in my mind, if we don’t get this (scoring chance) we’re going to overtime,” Shelton said. “So I said (to myself), it’s up to me. I got the draw and they were double-teaming. I went down the field and caught the defense sleeping, and I was faster than the girl who was defending me.
“I closed my eyes and kind of chucked it at the goal. I had to shoot around the (goalie) and it was a hook shot – bam-bam action.”
It was the winning goal as the Lions improved to 8-0 this season. The win over the Vikings (2-4) came on the heels of a 12-11 win over Parkway West (6-5) on April 17.
“We have a high percentage where we win the draw and score off of it,” said Shelton, who is among the St. Louis area leaders with 36 goals and has signed to play at Missouri Valley College in Marshall. “I want to cause havoc at the draw circle. The job doesn’t end when the ball goes up in the air. Maybe the ball doesn’t go into someone else’s stick. I’m going to be physical and do anything in my power to get us the draw.”
Shelton scored five goals against Howell. Northwest’s other tallies came from mid/attacking junior Sadie Clabaugh (two goals), junior attack Maddi Hogan (two) and senior attack/mid Faith Johnson (one). Junior Liliana Cornatzer made 14 saves in goal.
“(Shelton) has a great sense of the field,” Northwest head coach Abby Feldmann said. “She plays basketball, too, so she has good footwork and can spin off her defender. She’s kind of tiny and gets pushed around a lot, (but) she’s good at protecting her stick and she has a pretty spin move defenders have a hard time reading.”
Shelton racked up seven goals in the win over Parkway West, while Johnson notched three and Hogan and junior attack/mid Breezy Cardwell each had a goal. Cornatzer made nine saves. Hogan is second on the team with 20 goals.
“It was back and forth,” Feldmann said about beating the Longhorns. “They’re always good, so we knew it would be competitive. After we scored the winning goal, we got ball control and spread out our offense.”
Cornatzer played defense her freshman year and was the junior varsity goalie last year.
“She’s absolutely killing it,” Feldmann said. “She’s close to a 60 percent save average. She played over the summer for (the) Lou Fusz (club team). What I like about her is she gives her defense all the credit.”
Feldmann also praised the efforts of senior defenders Daisy Nulsen and Yuridia Colin Fajardo and juniors Halle Vance and Emily Hoffman.
“These girls are fearless and will do anything for Liliana,” Feldman said.
Shelton, Johnson and seniors Olivia Harrelson (attack) and Lyla Lehnhoff (mid) have played together all four years.
“The energy Olivia brings, everyone feeds off that kind of player,” Feldmann said.
Shelton is a three-sport athlete (including softball and basketball) with extensive family ties in the school district. Her father, Chris, served on the school board and her mom, Kerri, retired from teaching first grade. She also has aunts and uncles teaching in the district.
“I’m a big family person,” she said. “They’re my biggest support system.”
The Lions made it to the quarterfinals of the MSLA playoffs last season, losing there to Rockwood Summit. Eureka has advanced to the state final the past two seasons and beat Mary Institute Country Day School for the crown in 2024. Northwest will try to keep its perfect season record intact at Kirkwood today (April 24).
“I didn’t expect us to be this good,” Shelton said. “We lost seniors last year who played big roles and our schedule got a lot harder, but something is different. We have a drive to win. We’ve had so many close games recently and if our minds weren’t right, we wouldn’t have won them.
“We’re finally being respected and that means we have a lot of eyes on us. Our mindset is to keep up the winning streak and meet all the challenges that come at us.”