Jack Evans
Reporter
The FCIAC playoffs have begun in girls’ lacrosse and the second seeded Rams got off to a strong start with a 12-5 victory over the Staples Wreckers on Thursday, May 16.
After letting up the first goal of the game and going down 1-0, the girls battled back by rattling off 5 straight goals to grab a comfortable lead that they would not give up.
The Rams scoring attack was led by Elizabeth Miller, who tallied four goals for the game, Olivia Hompe who found the back of the net three times and Bea Eppler who had 2 goals and 1 assist. On the defensive end, the girls did a great job shutting down the Wreckers offense. Goalie, junior Nathalie Deney, had 6 saves as she filled in for starter senior Liz O’Sullivan went down with an injury.
Hompe started off the scoring, driving through the Staples defense for a goal, and just two minutes later Eppler put the rams up 2-1. Miller followed with two straight goals and Hompe ended the scoring spurt with her second goal of the contest to put the Rams up 5-1.
The girls went into the second half with a 7-3 lead and added to it with three straight goals by Miller, Hompe and senior Brianna McEwan respectively, to give the Rams a 10-3 advantage.
Staples ended the scoring run to cut the deficit and make it 10-4, but could not put a big dent in the New Canaan lead for the rest of the game.
On Monday night, the Rams faced off with the number 3 seeded Greenwich Cardinals in the semifinals, who won their quarterfinal game over the Ridgefield Tigers 17-12.
This was the first time the Rams and Cardinals faced each other this year and New Canaan ran away with it cruising to a 14-6 victory.
Similar to the quarterfinals, the Rams offense was led by Hompe who had 4 goals and 1 assist and Miller who had 3 goals for the night.
Defensively, the Rams had a stellar performance due to the return of goalie Liz O’Sullivan, who had been sidelined nursing a thumb injury. O’Sullivan, had 6 saves and with help from seniors Kelly Armstrong, Wheatley Raabe and Abigail Sawabini, the Rams made it hard for Greenwich to get anything going.
The scoring started just 48 seconds into the game when Elizabeth Miller found the back of the net. Two goals from Hompe, two from freshman Katie DeMarino and one from McEwan gave the Rams a 6-0 advantage after just 10 minutes of play.
The Rams went into halftime with a 9-2 lead and made sure the Cardinals wouldn’t get back into the game, opening up the second half with three straight goals to push the lead to 12-2.
The lead was 14-3 with 13 minutes left and the Rams were happy to let the clock run down. Greenwich scored three more goals but it was too late, and the Rams got the 14-6 win.
The girls will face rival number 1 seeded Darien at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon at Brien McMahon High School.
