FAIRFIELD, CT—UPDATE: Although ahead 4-3 at the half, sadly the Old Lyme girls ultimately fell 9-6 to Lauralton Hall on Saturday in the Class S lacrosse final.
On Saturday, June 8, the second-seeded Lyme-Old Lyme High School girls’ lacrosse team will face top seeds Lauralton Hall of Milford at Sacred Heart University in the CIAC Class S State Championship final. The game is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
In last Tuesday night’s Class S State semi-final, Old Lyme were 6-3 down against third-seeded Canton at half-time.
Things were not looking good for Old Lyme at Windsor High School when Canton came out to start the third quarter and almost immediately scored twice to take the score to 8-3.
Coach Emily Macione takes up the story from there, explaining in an email, “We took a time-out at that point and tried to regroup, the message being – one goal at a time, one possession at a time…just keep working together.”
She continued, “We responded from there, scoring the next five goals over the balance of the third quarter, and into the fourth … while also holding them to zero goals in the process.”
That five-goal run tied the game at 8-8, with around four minutes left on the clock.
At that point, in Macione’s words, “Canton’s best player #21 Heather Delbone ended up firing one in not too long after, and Canton went up 9-8. They won the next draw and tried to run out the clock. With about a minute and a half left, our #9 Sydney Goulding was able to steal the ball from Canton and ran it back up on offense for us. We took a few shots, and they were wide of the goal, but with about 10 second left, our #20 Alexis Antonellis was fouled and got a free position shot, which she made.”
This tied the game again, with six seconds remaining. Old Lyme won the next draw, and tried to run it down and shoot, but the clock expired, taking the game to overtime.
Macione pointed out, “Overtime is sudden death, so whoever scores first wins … which is why getting the draw is really, really critical. We were able to win it, went down on offense and after about 30 seconds, Alexis was able to score the game winner.”
Asked how that felt, Macione said simply, “It was … surreal.” She continued, “I have imagined the girls running off after a win like that so many times, and all season, I’ve been talking to them about that feeling and what it would be like. Everyone stepped up and kept their heads in the game despite a pretty considerable deficit … they just kept working, one play at a time.”
She concluded, “[You] Can’t ask for more than that as a coach. In some ways it’s hard to believe that we are playing in a final … It is just so rare to make it this far, and it’s really special. But since we have made it this far, our attitude is why not us? Everyone is going to be good at this point, we just have to outwork our opponent.”
Macione’ said she is now experiencing a great range of emotions about the final, saying she is, “So excited (and nervous) to have the opportunity [to have her team play in the first ever state final for Old Lyme.] Just one more!”