Simsbury Claims First CIAC Girls Lacrosse Championship By Topping Cheshire

FAIRFIELD, CT — In a championship game which was guaranteed to crown a first-time state champion, Cheshire netted the first tally, prompting top-seeded Simsbury to kick its offense into high gear.

That it did, as the Trojans embarked on scoring streaks of four and six goals en route to a 12-4 victory in the Class L title match Sunday at Fairfield University.

Leading the high-powered Simsbury attack was sophomore Charlotte Diviney with five goals, complemented by four scores by junior Madeline Francis. Junior Anna Stockwell scored twice, and a single goal was added by sophomore Jamison Hallam.

Cheshire dented the scoreboard first just past the midpoint of the opening quarter on a goal by Sarah Goldstein. Stockwell evened it up less than a minute later, the first of four Trojan tallies in a four and a half minute stretch. Francis netted her first two and Stockwell added her second of the game.

Tylie Lawless broke the run for Cheshire with a goal at 1:07, but two scores by Diviney and one by Hallam provided the Trojans a comfortable 7-2 lead at halftime.

Francis' third goal and two more by Diviney stretched the margin to 10-2 by the halfway mark of the third quarter. Lawless and Goldstein each added their second goals 45 seconds apart near the end of the session, but Francis and Diviney salted away the championship for Simsbury with goals in the first two minutes of the final quarter.

The win provided some redemption for the Trojans, whose initial appearance in a state title game was last year, a 10-7 loss to Masuk. Cheshire was making its first title game appearance since a 9-8 loss to Greenwich in 2012.