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New Canaan too strong for Avon in Class M semifinals

Avon's Paige Hammick (80) and Haley Graff (8) pressure New Canaan's Isabel Taben (9) in the Class L semifinal. Riley Hagan (2) has her eyes on the play.

Avon’s Paige Hammick (80) and Haley Graff (8) pressure New Canaan’s Isabel Taben (9) in the Class L semifinal. Riley Hagan (2) has her eyes on the play.

WEST HAVEN –  The New Canaan High girls lacrosse didn’t need any extra motivation before playing Avon High in the Class M semifinals on Monday evening. The defending state champion Rams were looking for a second straight berth in the finals.

But Rams were inspired. They were playing for their head coach Kristin Woods who just had her first child – Katherine Taylor — just 24 hours earlier.

“They played with such determination and focus, it wouldn’t have mattered who we played,” said Megan Hoffman, the team’s assistant coach, who filled in for Woods.

Top-ranked New Canaan (19-2) scored the first two goals in less than two minutes and had a nine-goal lead late in the first half of a 15-6 victory.

In lacrosse, play restarts after every goal with a draw at midfield with two players fighting for control and New Canaan dominated in this area allowing the Rams to control large stretches of the contest.

It was the deepest that Avon (16-5) has ever gone into the state tournament and the Falcons won eight of their last 10 games of the season, including four straight post-season contests.

Avon shared the NCCC championship with Granby and dominated the Bears with an 11-goal victory in the NCCC Tournament championship game.

“It’s tough to lose this late in the season,” Avon coach Sean Cole said. “I would feel a little better if we played better. But we didn’t.

“Our season was great but we’re not satisfied how we played at all,” he said.

Falcon goalie Paige Hammick made 13 saves but was peppered with shots throughout the game. All-State player Olivia Hompe scored six goals and had three assists for the Rams. She also scooped up three (loose) ground balls to help New Canaan retain possession.

Britt Douglas and Ali Condon each had two goals for Avon while Kaylan Conrard and Maggie Ade each added solo goals.

Condon put Avon on the board with her run to the goal with about four minutes gone in the game to cut the Rams lead to one, 2-1. But then the barrage began as the Rams scored eight unanswered goals.

Isabel Tabon got the Rams started in the second half. She caught pass that Hompe threw over Hammick’s head from behind the goal and scored for a 3-1 lead. Hompe added another two goals for a 5-1 lead. She had another two goals as the lead swelled to 10-1. Douglass scored her team-leading 67th goal from in front of the goal with about 3:50 remaining in the first half.

Avon earned its first semifinal berth with strong performances in a 16-6 win over Fairfield Warde and a 13-7 decision over Brookfield in the quarterfinals.

“We were spectacular, totally outstanding,” Cole said of the two Class M tournament victories. “We played with confidence and we possessed the ball. It was 60-40 on draws for us against Fairfield Warde and 70-30 against Brookfield.”

Hunter McCarthy had four goals against Warde with Douglas getting three goals and two assists. Maddie Ade, who had only five goals in 16 regular season games, had three goals. Conrad and Riley Hagan each had two goals and two assists for the Falcons.

Against Brookfield, McCarthy had four goals an assist while Douglas had four goals and two assists. Conrad and Maggie Maniatty each had a goal and an assist.

“It’s hard,” Cole admitted after the final buzzer sounded in the New Canaan game. “We had a great senior class (12 players).”

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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