After thunder claps caused for a delay of almost an hour and a half on Friday night, the Cheshire High School girls’ lacrosse team had some shining moments in their Class L quarterfinal at New Canaan.
Trailing 2-0 when they restarted the game, CHS rallied to cut the deficit to 3-2 on a pair of goals from senior Ava Harris. Classmate Ava Matikowski assisted on the second goal.
“I thought we played well coming out of the storm,” reflected Head Coach Dan Warburton. “We did good things on offense.”
CHS could feel momentum building, but NC quickly showed why they are the defending state champions. NC (second seed, 17-3) netted seven straight goals to go up 10-2 and went on to win 20-7 over Cheshire (seventh seed, 16-4).
“They are a very difficult team on offense,” stated Warburton. “When you try to set up on defense, they are already by you a lot of times.”
For NC, senior Stella Nolan and junior Devon Russell both scored twice during their key run.
After NC received a two-minute penalty card, Cheshire responded with goals from junior Stella Tessier and senior Alex Lucas. Matikowski assisted on both tallies.
NC still took a 13-4 advantage into halftime and returned to put in three straight goals. Sophomore Madeline Tully had the first two goals of the second half.
“Everyone on their team is fast,” said Harris, a co-captain with senior defender Taylor Fitzgerald. “They can all score, so that makes them hard to play against.”
For Cheshire, senior Lauren Samela scored two goals after halftime. Freshman Tema Caplan also found the back of the net.
Senior goalkeeper Audrey Bronson made three saves.
“We got to play an amazing game against a really good team,” said Matikowski. “Their team has all D-I (Division I) commits (for college). During the delay, we got to meet a lot of the girls. We were here to compete, but it was good to talk to the players, as well.”
Cheshire will graduate Harris, Fitzgerald, Julia Bailey, Bronson, Clara Dempsey, Lucas, Matikowski, Taryn Ugrin, Samela, Sophia Surato, and manager Mallory Depaolo.
“They are a talented group of players and good kids. We have gotten to know each other well,” stated Warburton. “It is like a family. There are good times and tough times, but you are always there for each other and support each other.”
“We aren’t just friends in lacrosse, but also in and out of school,” explained Fitzgerald. “We have all gotten really close.”
Boys’ Volleyball (sixth seed, 20-4)
In the Class M quarterfinals, the Rams picked up their seventh straight victory, 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-14), at Rockville (third seed, 18-4). Check back for stats.
On June 6 at 6 p.m., CHS meets Farmington (10th seed, 12-9) in the semifinals at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy (SMSA) in Hartford.
Softball (sixth seed, 18-7)
In a game that was suspended temporarily for thunder, Cheshire came up short 4-0 in the Class LL quarterfinals at Newtown (third seed, 23-2). For five innings, the game was a scoreless pitcher’s duel between senior Karissa Spring and Newtown senior Sydney Adolfson.
CHS threatened in the third. Senior Jordan Chymbor hit a two-out triple, but Adolfson got a ground out to end the inning.
In the fourth, Newtown also got a two-out triple from senior Caroline Gardner, however, Spring recorded a strikeout to end the frame.
Finally in the sixth, Newtown broke through to score all four runs. Two singles and an intentional walk loaded the bases for sophomore Sophia Caruso, who smacked a three-run double.
Freshman Addison Cordova posted an RBI double to bring in the fourth run.
Spring, who yielded six hits, finished with four strikeouts. Freshman pitcher Jenica Matos came in to get the last out of the sixth.
Freshmen Ava Pearson and Molly Fleming added singles for the Rams.
Spring and Chymbor are the only graduating Cheshire seniors this year.
Saturday’s varsity schedule:
Boys’ Lacrosse (top seed, 16-3)
CHS carries a six-game win streak into their Class M quarterfinal against Joel Barlow (eighth seed, 9-8) at 3 p.m. On May 12, Cheshire won 18-3 in the first meeting.