South Lakes Girls Lacrosse Wins on Senior Night

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The girls lacrosse team from South Lakes ended the regular season on a high note, defeating West Springfield by a score of 9 to 8 in a thrilling game in the rain. The Seahawks celebrated Senior night in fine fashion, with each of the five seniors contributing to the win. Defenders McKenzie Walsh, Chanel Stringer, and Caroline Beaulac played stellar defense allowing the Seahawks to come back from a 3 goal deficit by limiting the Spartans to only two second half goals. The three towering senior defenders were backed by outstanding goaltending from sophomore Gillian Goodiel. The defense was bolstered by two ground-ball recoveries by both Freshmen Megan Edens and Junior Olivia Rose; hard-nosed plays by Juniors Laura Sklar, Miya Konishi, and Hannah Parisi, and the leadership of Junior co-captain Tori Avila. The defense played together and frustrated the Spartans by aggressively pressuring the ball and refusing to give up the Seahawks’ slim lead in the waning minutes of the game.

Trailing by a score of 7-4 entering the second half, Senior co-captains and attack players Kristina Woodward and Emma Rygiel led the Seahawks’ second half comeback. Fleet-footed Rygiel chipped in a goal and constant-hustle. Woodward played an outstanding game controlling the ball throughout, scooping up six contested ground balls, scoring 3 goals and dishing out two beautiful assists for goals by Junior Samantha Lowe. Kristina’s younger sister Katherine Woodward got into the act with two slick goals of her own. Junior attack players Jessica Greatorex, Tessa Hawley, and Anna Tignor helped the offense maintain possession of the ball by chasing down loose balls and controlling the play with crisp passes throughout the offensive zone.

The draws were controlled by dominating center Taylor Newman-Farr, who added two powerful goals including the game-winner in the last minute of the game. Any draws not controlled by Newman-Farr, were tracked down by fleet-footed sophomore midfielders Alexandra Heishman, Jesse Lynch and Isa Demorat.

In a complete team effort, the Seahawks while trailing the entire game, never gave up and came back to tie the score and win in the final minutes, thus allowing the parents of the seniors one last time to live vicariously through the athletic feats of their offspring.

The Seahawks head to the playoff on a three game winning streak and look to extend the season by avenging a regular season drubbing by Yorktown.