Wilton Girls Lacrosse Beats Branford in State Tourney Opener

The weather finally accomplished what no other FCIAC school was able to do last week: knock the Wilton Warriors girls lacrosse team off the field.

But an hour rain delay did nothing to dampen the championship-level play of the Warriors as they drowned Branford, 20-7, at home Tuesday evening.

Displaying the same high level of play that won them the FCIAC title days earlier, the Wilton girls scored at will en route to an easy win in the qualifying round of the CIAC Division II state tournament.

The 11th-seeded Warriors (14-4-1) will play at No. 6 seed Glastonbury (13-2-1 in the regular season) in the first round on Thursday at 5 p.m.  The teams played to a 10-10 tie early in the season at Wilton.

A tie game early, Branford was outmatched in the first half, as Wilton scored ten straight goals to increase its lead to 11-1.

The Warriors seemed to demoralize the Branford players by pushing the advantage at every opportunity.

Tenacious transition defense resulted in turnovers and scoring chances for the Warriors as they continued to play hard despite the growing lead.

Wilton also dominated the faceoffs, quickly setting up its offense and scoring off a variety of shots. Branford responded to the deficit by playing an increasingly physical brand of lacrosse.

Wilton's goalie Maddie Kratz was not tested early, but made the saves when needed to keep the Warriors ahead.

The defense in front of Kratz was equally strong, feeding off the energy provided by their offense.

Senior Megan Wells consistently forced Branford forwards to rush shots as fellow senior Caroline Arrix caused several deflections. Sophomore Elizabeth Reda made up the last piece of the defensive wall that stifled Branford all evening.

Despite giving up a late goal, Wilton took a 13- 3 lead into the second half and head coach Cindy Wiseman was not going to let her team grow complacent.

"We wanted them to work on the small things, like getting every ground ball, work hard on the draws," she said. 

Second chance opportunities were the story early in the second half, as Wilton was able to retain possession after several missed shots went wide past Brandford goalie Cheyenne Carden. 

Alexi Farmakis picked up where she left off in the first half, scoring her fifth and sixth goals of the contest on her way to scoring seven overall. 

"I think she was fired up today," Wilton assistant coach Ciara Thurlow said. "Alexi was face-guarded in our last game and felt that she couldn't contribute the way she wanted to, so I think she was particularly psyched up to play today."

The senior was joined by Christie Huidekoper, Tessa Howard, Tegan Helms, Lindsey Flanagan and Casey Pearsal, who all tallied multiple goals on the evening.

The Warriors played hard for a full 50 minutes despite holding such a commanding lead. They displayed the kind of mentality expected from an FCIAC champion and served notice to the rest of the state. 

"They have everything they need to win," Thurlow said. "It's just about bringing it that day and being mentally prepared."

Even though the win came easy today, the Warriors know that each new game brings new challenges as they march toward a possible title.

"We have to work as a team always," Thurlow added. "[The players should] never forget that they have each other."

While the road should get more difficult as the Warriors get deeper into the tournament, Wiseman believes the team is capable of bringing home a state title. Wilton certainly is peaking at the right time.

"They're capable of doing the same thing," said Wiseman, meaning winning another championship trophy to go with the FCIAC hardware.