Girls Lacrosse Ensures Success on Senior Night

From the very beginning it was obvious that the seniors of the Bethel High girls lacrosse team weren’t going to let Lauralton Hall ruin their night. After honoring their eight seniors before the game, the Wildcats (6-8, 4-8) followed those same girls to a 14-9 win over the Crusaders.

Senior Sam Davenport got the Wildcats going with a goal in the game’s opening minute and then added three more goals before the half to lead her team to an 8-4 lead. Fellow senior Laura Steinmetz scored two of her own in the first half to help the Wildcats control the game from the beginning.

“It was nice to win on senior night, and it was nice to play a lot of our seniors too,” Coach Shelly DeSisto said. “It was nice that we could maintain control, let all the players play and have fun.”

After scoring four goals in the first half, Davenport was held of the score sheet in the second half, while Steinmetz was able to generate her offense. Twice she took the ball from the Wildcats side of the field and weaved her way through the Crusaders’ defense before beating the goalie.

“Sam just has such a quick stick and Laura can cradle through any kind of traffic,” DeSisto said. “They have such confidence with the ball and they handle it so well. They truly are full field players.”

In addition to Davenport and Steinmetz, the Wildcats had two other seniors find the back of the net. First it was Kate Delucia, and shortly after it was Olivia Mullen, which gave the Wildcats a 13-5 lead.

Serina Ghio threatened throughout and added three goals of her own, Stephanie Hirst rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats. Stephanie Forese finished with seven saves in net.

Seniors Mollie Thode, Alexa Witcofsky, Nicole White and Jacquie Mancher may not have found their way onto the score sheet, but they’re still part of a group that will be missed when next season rolls around.

“I have a special class of seniors that we’re definitely going to miss in terms of skill, and as teammates and leaders,” DeSisto said. “They’ve definitely helped take this program from being at the bottom of the league, to now being a competitor in the SWC. They’ve been such a big part of that, that it’s definitely sad to see them go, they’ve had such great careers. I’m proud of them for what they’ve done, I hope they’re proud of themselves, I know their families are very proud. This is just a great celebration of all of that.”

Bethel’s next game is Wednesday at home against Stratford, the game is set to start at 5 p.m.