In terms of competition, the Joel Barlow High girls varsity lacrosse team received very little in its game against Immaculate last week.
Right from the beginning, the host Falcons dominated every aspect of the game, including draw controls, ground balls and time of possession. The most obvious, however, was scoring. Once the Falcons found the net, there was no stopping them in a 20-0 shutout on Tuesday, April 9.
“We were looking for the team to execute today,” said Barlow head coach Melissa Sportini. “We were definitely looking for them to play as a team, share the ball, assist goals all those things, which was exactly what they did.”
Barlow put its attack to work early. Not long after the action started, it scored six goals in less than a six-minute span, with Allie Ogden, Julia Champagne, Caroline Lippoth, Mary Duque, Ruby Ludwig and Savannah Herrman each finding the net.
Continuing to dominate draw controls, the Falcons got their next goal when Ogden scored off a pass from Elyssa Kalamaras with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. Just 50 seconds later, Barlow took advantage of an Immaculate turnover when Champagne went in unchallenged to make it 8-0 after one frame.
Shortly after the second quarter got underway, Savannah Herrman and Ogden came through again, the former scoring with 11:11 left in the half with the latter assisting. Less than two minutes later, Ogden scored with Herrman assisting.
With the score now 10-0, the game had a running clock. That still gave the Falcons enough time to tally four more goals and a 14-0 lead at halftime.
When play resumed, the onslaught continued, even though the Falcons made frequent substitutions to give their starters a rest. Leading 18-0 at one point, they opted to simply maintain possession for a good part of the third quarter before Carmindy Herrman scored with 4-0 second left.
For the most part, the final quarter was mostly an exercise in passing, as the Falcons worked on their stick skills while denying Immaculate any scoring opportunities. Only once did they put the ball in the net, coming on a goal by Lila Fellows with 6:35 left to play.
“This is still a valuable game for us,” said Sportini. “It gives people a lot of opportunity to play that might not otherwise get to, a lot of opportunity to show us what they have.
Barlow had 12 different players score. Ogden (one assist), Champagne and Savannah Herrman (four assists) all scored three goals. Ludwig and Lippoth (one assist) had two apiece, while Teagan Candee (one assist), Daniella Catterino (one assist), Kalamaras (three assists), Gianna Onofrio, Fellows, Duque and Carmindy Herrman each netted one.
Isabella Sgritta, Lauren Skidmore, and Anna Gormely all saw time in goal for Barlow to combine for the shutout.
Barlow hosted Newtown on Tuesday and is at New Fairfield on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
