Greenwich Girls Lacrosse Holds Off Glastonbury To Win Class L State Title

For the second time in as many years, the Greenwich girls lacrosse team found itself in a one-goal game late in the second half of the state championship.

This time, however, the sixth-seeded Cardinals were on the plus side as they held off Glastonbury 12-10 on Saturday to capture the CIAC Class L title at Bunnell.

"Twenty players that were on the field and this bench were in the exact same spot last year (against New Canaan)," Greenwich junior Shannon Colligan said, "but we were chasing because we were down that goal.

"It was so much nicer to be in this position on the other side of things, keeping the ball for the last four minutes instead of chasing."

Last season, Greenwich lost to New Canaan 9-8 in the Division II state final, also at Bunnell.

The Cardinals (15-5) were in a more favorable position this time because of a blitz at the start of the second half. Claire Feeney clinched the win with 2.4 seconds remaining when she scored her second goal of the game - both coming in the second half.

After the teams battled to a 5-5 tie at halftime, Greenwich scored six of the first seven goals after the intermission to grab control of the contest.

The Cardinals regrouped after getting routed by New Canaan 13-2 in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC playoffs.

"We knew that right from the beginning of the state tournament, we needed to come out here and have something to prove after losing in FCIACs and we really did," said sophomore Emily Johnson, who paced the Cardinals with three goals Saturday. "It means so much to all our seniors to win this."

Toni Dunster scored her second goal of the game to snap the 5-5 tie.  Emma Christie then tallied her second of the afternoon with 11:53 remaining to cap the spurt and give Greenwich a seemingly comfortable 11-6 cushion.

"We just came out on fire (in the second half)," Colligan said. "We had all the confidence in the second half. I think it came down to our draw control and our possession."

But the fifth-seeded Tomahawks, who were facing their third straight FCIAC opponent, didn't go quietly. Glastonbury defeated Staples in the quarterfinals and Fairfield Ludlowe in the semifinals.

Taylor Moreau and Morgan Walker scored within 28 seconds to make it 11-7 with with just over 10 minutes remaining. Glastonbury crept even closer when Leah Zavalick tallied with 6:16 to go.

Greenwich iced Glastonbury's momentum with a possession that would have made former North Carolina basketball Dean Smith, the master of the four corners offense, proud.

The Cardinals took more than four minutes off the clock before finally turning the ball over with only 1:19 remaining.

"We did a really good job of possessing and keeping it away from them," Johnson said. "We did a good job of moving the ball so they couldn't come up on it."

"We knew that we couldn't drop the ball," Colligan added.  "If we dropped the ball, like we did once, they took it , ran down field and scored within 10 seconds."

After Glastonbury finally regained possession,  Kathleen Devito scored with 1:04 remaining to pull the Tomahawks within 11-10, but Johnson won the ensuing draw and the Cardinals were able to once again play their delay game. They ran down the clock until Feeney scored with just two seconds remaining.

"Before that draw, my coach told me (losing that) draw was not an option," Johnson said. "I took that to heart."