Staples Girls Lacrosse Advances To State Championship Game

The conditions were far from ideal, but the steady rain did nothing to slow down the Staples girls lacrosse team Wednesday.

Blair Barone scored five goals and Ali Crofts and Nicole Seo added four a piece, as the Wreckers charged into the CIAC Division II championship game with a 19-8 victory over No. 3 seed St. Bernard at soggy Bunnell High School.

On Saturday, the Wreckers will face Fairfield Ludlowe, an 18-7 winner over Haddam-Killingworth in Wednesday's second semifinal, in all-FCIAC state final. That game also will be played at Bunnell with a starting time of 10:45 a.m.

Staples (15-6) lost a pair of one-goal games to the Falcons during the regular season, but the Wreckers were not as full strength for either game.

Tuesday's victory coincided with the 18th birthday of Staples co-captain Kat Krieger.

"Best thing ever," Krieger said of the Wreckers' first championship game appearance in the six-year history of the program. "Today is my 18th birthday, and it's the best present I got."

The inclement weather kept the crown down to an intimate gathering of family and friends. But those who did brave the elements saw a dominating performance by the Wreckers.

"We played a game at the end of the season in Norwalk in ever harsher conditions than this, and it down-poured, but we had to get it in," Staples coach Cathy Schager said. "That really prepared us for it, so I don't think the rain fazed these kids one little bit."

Tuesday' game was close early, as the Saints (15-5) pulled within 4-3 on a goal by Katherine Brown with 13:30 remaining in the first half.

Schager attributed the slow start to her players getting used to a type of defense they don't normally see in the FCIAC.

But once the Wreckers got their bearings, they overwhelmed their opponents from the eastern part of the state. Barone's second goal of the contest gave Staples a 5-3 lead with 11:53 left in the first half and ignited a 10-0 run that  continued well into the second half.

The Wreckers have come a long way in a short period of time. They also may have gained something after losing in the quarterfinals of the state tournament last season.

"Six years ago, did I think we would get this far, no," Schager said. "But we hoped it and we dreamt it. We didn't talk about it overtly, but we all kind of knew what the goal was."

The Wreckers added five more goals in the first half, including a pair by Crofts, to take a 10-3 halftime lead.

Seo, Crofts, Maeve Flaherty and Barone scored in the first seven minutes of the second half to extend Staples' cushion to 14-3. From there, the teams essentially traded goals until the final buzzer.

The Wreckers only entered the tournament as the 10th seed, but they ousted top seed Immaculate, 18-11, in the quarterfinals. By virtue of playing in the FCIAC, Staples' low seed was grossly misleading.  

"The FCIAC is an insanely difficult division to play in," Schager added. "The last game, when we went to Immaculate,  the coach basically said we're a little nervous playing against an FCIAC team.

"Normally, a lot of FCIAC teams don't even make it into the playoffs in Division II because we can't get out of our own way."

Flaherty and Samantha Hardy each scored two goals and Elizabeth Driscoll added one apiece for the Wreckers.

"Four years ago when I was a freshman, I was on the JV team and the varsity team had never even made the state tournament before," Krieger said. "Then my sophomore year, we made it for the first time ever and since then, we've just been going up and up.

"This year, we made the FCIAC tournament for the first time, and we're taking it all the way this year."

Between games, Krieger was asked about the Wreckers' potential championship game opponent.

"We want to beat the best. So who's ever better, that's who I want to play," she said.

That turned out to be Ludlowe, which dominated Haddam-Killingworth in the same manner that the Staples controlled St. Bernard.

In the end, it was no surprise that two FCIAC teams reached the final.

"Ludlowe's got a pretty serious squad out there," Schager said.