After one half of play, it appeared the Joel Barlow High girls varsity lacrosse team was in good shape to pull off an upset in the quarterfinals of the South-West Conference tournament last week.
The fifth-seeded Falcons had amassed a six-goal advantage over host Newtown at halftime on Thursday, May 16. In the second half, however, things began to unravel for the visitors. The fourth-seeded Nighthawks put seven straight goals on the board in a come-from-behind 9-8 win at Blue and Gold Stadium.
“It was just a really unfortunate second half from a really great first half,” said Barlow head coach Melissa Sportini, whose team also lost to Newtown by one goal during the regular season. “It was one of the best first halves we played all year.”
Between winning a lot of draw controls in the first half and capitalizing on turnovers by Newtown, the Falcons had the better of play and it showed. Led by Julia Champagne, Daniela Catterino, Ruby Ludwig and Elyssa Kalamaras on attack and in the midfield by Allie Ogden, Barlow had much success in finding the net, taking an 8-2 lead into halftime.
When play resumed the momentum began to shift in favor of the Nighthawks, which dominated draw controls. Having the better of possession, it created numerous scoring opportunities.
“I’d say the biggest thing that didn’t work for us in the second half was we couldn’t win the draw,” said Sportini. “We didn’t get possession. I don’t think we won one draw in the second half and that killed us.
By the end of the third quarter, Newtown had cut the lead to 8-6. What few chances the Falcons did have were thwarted by Newtown goalie Alexa Manfredonia, who made four big saves in the second half.
Brooke Bulkley got her team to within one goal of catching Barlow on a free position shot with 10:20 left in the game. Barlow would suffer a defense blow when it lost one player on defense due to several yellow cards and also lost Carmindy Herrman on a couple of occasions due to injury.
Newtown tied it up with 8:38 to play when Summer Herrell scored her third goal of the game. Less than a minute and a half later she added one more to put her team over the top before holding Barlow at Bay for the duration of the game.
Ogden, Ludwig and Julia Champagne led Barlow with two goals apiece. Catterina and Kalamaras each scored one. Savannah Herrman had one assist.
Despite the loss, the season is not yet over for Barlow. In a few weeks it hopes to go have better luck in the state Class M tournament.
“This is upsetting for them and I think they’re really hungry for a state championship,” said Sportini. “We’ll regroup. We’ll get back to work and we’ll be ready for the state tournament.”
