Tolland Lacrosse Falls to Windsor on Senior Night

Up by a pair of goals in the opening minutes, Tolland’s inability to stop Windsor’s duo of Chris Reid and Eddie Burke proved to be the Eagles’ undoing in a 10-6 loss to the Warriors Friday at Tolland High School.

Reid (one goal, five assists) and Burke (four goals) hurt Tolland in the first half, and connected on the game’s final goal at 1:39 in the fourth.

With Tolland pressing and controlling play in Windsor’s end, Reid took the ball and hit a streaking Burke, who beat goalie Eric Horsfield.

“Someone was playing good defense and popped the ball loose,” Reid said. “I got it and the other defenders were focusing on me as I was running and I saw Eddie sneaking down.

After goals by Kevin Kilguss and Matt Susca gave Tolland a 2-0 lead 1:20 in, Windsor reeled off six unanswered goals and stayed ahead the rest of the game.

“They were playing a zone and they didn’t play me,” Reid said. “I was behind the goal so I basically had all the time to pass to my players,” adding if the Eagles had switched to a man defense, he would have been able to dodge to create scoring opportunities.

Some early penalties hurt Tolland, as Windsor was able to convert two of their man-up chances in the first half, while the Eagles were forced to regroup shorthanded.

“We had the momentum and then we started to take some frustration penalties,” Tolland head coach Victor Hurtuk said. “You try to get into a rhythm and you have set lines and sometimes you get the wrong guy in there and they get a little confused,” he said of playing shorthanded.

While the Eagles couldn’t convert on several of their penalty chances, including a two man-up late in the third, they cut the Warriors’ lead to 8-6 at on Kilgruss’ goal at 2:03.

But Windsors’ defense and goalie, Perry Booker, withstood Tolland’s attack in the closing seconds of the third to keep the lead at two. The senior slid to his left to make a save, with the ball bouncing out to Susca, who ripped a shot from the slot that Booker again turned away.

“That’s been him all season,” Windsor coach James Dallesander said of his goalie. “Every time we need him, he comes up huge.”

The game was Tolland’s (3-10) senior night, as the Eagles honored Horsfield, Kilguss, Austin Nelson, Justin Desilets, and Connor Furey before the game.

“They’re leading a very young squad and trying to get them to produce,” Hurtuk said. “Like I told them in the huddle at the end, you guys are leaving a legacy. That’s what you want to leave behind you. It’s not just this season; it’s what you leave for the future.”

Windsor will travel to South Windsor Saturday at 11 a.m., while Tolland hosts Granby Monday at 4 p.m.