Canton Girls Ease to First State Lacrosse Title

MILFORD, CT - In a battle of North Central Connecticut Conference rivals, Canton broke open a tight match with 10 consecutive goals to upend Somers 15-3 in the Class S girls lacrosse championship contest Saturday at Jonathan Law High School.

The Warriors led 5-3 when Grace Giancola netted her third goal of the match just 13 seconds before halftime. That late tally seemed to fire up Canton and take some wind out of the Spartans' sails.

After intermission, it was all Canton, as the Warriors erupted for nine goals without allowing Somers a single score.

Giancola finished with six goals, Emma Charron and Kaelyn Oliver each had three, Devon Daubert had two and Carly Atkinson netted one for the Warriors, who won the championship in their first-ever trip to the finals.

Charron had three assists, Oliver had two and Daubert one.

Netminder Amanda Gottleib stopped nine shots for the Warriors.

"We had three goals before the season: win the conference, win the conference tournament and win this game," Canton head coach Sean Cole said. "Check, check, check. A lot of hard work went into this season, and my nerves were unwarranted with this group."

For Somers, Danielle Hollister, Cassandra Speight and Marianne Dalessio each scored goals, with Emily Pruden recording an assist. Laura Morton stopped four shots in net for the Spartans.

Check back with Canton Patch for an extensive photo gallery of the championship match later Saturday.

Photo credit: Tim Jensen