Cheshire Edges Hand for SCC Girls LAX Title

The state championships are coming up so the Daniel Hand High School girls lacrosse team still has a chance for post-season glory, but they failed to win their fifth consecutive SCC crown yesterday, dropping an exciting 9-8 match to Cheshire at Branford High.

The Rams dominated the second half, coming from behind 8-5 with a four goal streak that concluded with the winning score with 1:43 to play.

The Tigers converted only a single goal in the second half and that was in the first minute. Cheshire’s defense subdued Hand the remainder of the game, not just preventing goals but preventing shots. Every time Hand was on offense, they passed the ball around and failed to get off a shot, which was a far cry from the first half, when they scored seven goals and looked to be on the verge of victory.

“When you get a two goal lead, you’ve got to learn to close,” said Tigers coach
Kevin Siedlecki. “We slowed down a little too much, trying to make sure every
goal went in and then we didn’t get enough shots.”

“In the first half everyone was afraid to make a mistake, instead of sliding like they do they were sticking to their own player,” said Rams coach Dan Warburton. “At half time we just said believe in what we’ve done and play our defense and in the second half that’s what you saw. We were able to turn the ball over a couple of times and we started getting on a roll.”

Hand’s goalie Christy Forrest recorded ten saves and played a good game but she was unable to stop every shot, with Cheshire converting on four opportunities in the second half to earn the victory.

The Tigers highlight was the goal they scored early in the second half, with a long pass from Christy Forrest to Marykate McNulty who passed to Hannah Morgan for a fast break score.

Senior co-captain Morgan lead the way with four goals, Taylor Raleigh had two and McNulty had four assists.

The Rams were led by Alyssa Hogue and Kathleen Kalbian with three goals each.

Hand defeated Cheshire 14-8 in last year’s SCC finals and also defeated them twice during the regular season this year. “It’s a coin toss rivalry, but this is the one that matters,” Coach Siedlecki said. “There’s not a kid on this team who thinks we’re better than them, it’s just a matter of execution. It’s very hard to beat the same great team three times in a season and today they executed better.”

Hand has a few days to prepare for the state championships, which start with a home game Thursday at 6:00 against Fitch. Hand is ranked second to Wilton in the M division.