Early goals by Julia Meehan and Emma Dagres, who assisted on each other’s strikes, set the tone for the Weston girls’ lacrosse team, which surged to an 8-1 halftime lead and went onto a 14-10 victory over visiting Bedford in the first round of the Division 2 North Sectionals yesterday.
Weston, the No. 2 seed, will host No. 7 Belmont in the quarterfinals on Monday.
“We came out strong. We did what we intended to do, and ran a lot of motion and passing plays, and a lot of people put the ball in the net,” Weston head coach Chrissy Swanson said.
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With the sun glistening on the Weston turf on a gorgeous afternoon, the Wildcats (14-3-1) built on their 2-0 lead with a goal by Bianca Brueckner and two straight by Sarah Peters.
Peters’ second tally was a beauty set up nicely by Hannah Dinardo, who fed Peters deep on the right side, before the latter swung around the net and buried a medium high shot to the middle of the goal.
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Weston improved its lead to 7-0, and that’s before Dinardo even stuck with the first of her three goals with a top left corner laser to give Weston an 8-1 lead at the half.
Dagres also finished with a hat trick, while Meehan, Peters, and Brueckner had two goals apiece. Alissa Duffey and Taylor Reeves also scored for the Wildcats.
After taking the big lead, Weston emptied its bench during the second stanza, after playing a terrific first half on defense.
“We worked on stopping the crease roll,” Swanson said of the offensive maneuver that features a player moving from behind the net to get a shot on goal.
Swanson said her team’s effective defense allowed the Wildcats to create turnovers and get their offense started.
“We could take more risks,” she said.
Christina Warner and Jacqueline Mone combined for the win in goal.
Meanwhile, Bedford goalie Anna Walling shined with a bunch of standup saves in front of the Buccaneer net.
Bedford (9-9-1) also picked up the pace offensively in the second half with a barrage of shots on goal and kept the deficit respectable. Elizabeth Watson had four goals to lead the Buccaneers.