Easton sophomore Olivia Milia scored three goals and tallied one assist in the only game she played last season before suffering a torn ACL that kept her off the field until last week’s EPC semifinal loss to Emmaus. Even in that loss, she wasn’t cleared to participate in arguably the best and most crucial part of her game – draw controls. That wasn’t the case in Monday night’s District 11 3A semifinal in a rematch with the Green Hornets and her return to the center circle was instrumental in flipping the script and sending the Red Rovers back to the district championship for a second straight season thanks to a 12-10 win at Northampton High School.
“For a young woman, 16 years old, to be able to go through what she went through for longer than a year, keep the mentality and work as hard as she did, that just shows that she’s going to do very, very special things in life,” Easton coach Ray Attisano said. “Lacrosse, yes, but in life. That’s more important.
” The results on the lacrosse field were evident on Monday night, beyond just winning 12 of the 25 draw controls. Milia also came through with two timely and terrific goals in the third period to turn a one-goal lead into a three-goal cushion in the final four minutes. The second came in stunning fashion as an Easton turnover in the attacking end looked to be the end of the period with just 16 seconds remaining but an errant pass from the Green Hornets defense allowed Milia to scoop up a loose ball and sc.