Bears change course

Opting for slower pace pays off as Stonington girls edge Bacon in key ECC Division II game

Stonington — Usually, Stonington enjoys turning things into a track meet. Get the draw, pass, cut and go.

But Thursday the Bears ran into fellow Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II team Bacon Academy, what Stonington coach Jeff Medeiros called "the fastest team we played this year." And so, in order to win, Stonington needed to morph the game into a chess match.

"We want to have a 10-goal lead," Medeiros said. "But we're happy to have a one- or two-goal lead and control the ball. In practice, we put two minutes on the clock and we call it 'two minutes to win it.' It's just smart lacrosse when it comes down to the end of the game and it's tight."

Stonington used the strategy to pick up its fifth straight victory, holding off Bacon 7-6.

The Bears capped a long possession on offense with a goal by Kate

“If we lose and Bacon wins out, they win the ECC (D-II) title. I told them, ‘It’s literally all right here.’ ... These girls have been playing together, playing much better as a team to the core. We took those three losses, but we figure it out.” STONINGTON COACH EFF MEDEIROS

Kate Johnson off a free position with 8 minutes, 14 seconds remaining, which Medeiros called the key possession of the game. That made it 7-5 in Stonington's favor.

Bacon then scored with 1:41 to play on a goal by Molly Kelly to pull within 7-6.

A Stonington turnover with 54 seconds remaining gave Bacon the ball back with an opportunity to tie it and Kelly was awarded a free position shot against Bears goalie Alexis Scott with 17.3 seconds to play. Stonington defender Cat Cassatta deflected the shot, however, and teammate Emma Sabbadini ended up with it, sprinting down the field with it as time ran out.

Johnson scored three goals for Stonington (8-3, 2-0), all of them unassisted, and Sabbadini added two. Hannah Lamb and Kate Reagan had one goal each, Olivia Feliciano had two assists and Scott made seven saves. Stonington led 6-4 at halftime.

The Bears have given up an average of just six goals per game over the last five games, beating Chariho (15-4), Norwich Free Academy (138), Old Lyme (8-7) and ECC Division II opponents Montville (15-5) and Bacon after having fallen to 3-3 overall following a loss to East Lyme on April 19.

"Bacon is a really fast team. We had to settle the ball," Johnson said. "That was the key point toward the end of the game. Most times, we know not to force it; the offense has gotten a lot better at not forcing the ball. Bacon has a really fast midfield, so holding the ball helped us a lot."

Bacon led 2-1 on a goal by Kate Blakely with 16:16 to play in the half before Stonington scored four straight for a 5-2 lead. Reagan picked up a ground ball and fired it past Bacon goalie Nicki Tyler to tie the game at two and Johnson won the ensuing draw and scored again 10 seconds later to give the Bears the lead.

Sabbadini then scored back-toback goals to make it 5-2.

Trailing 6-4 at halftime, though, Bacon opened the scoring in the second half to pull within 6-5.

It was during a timeout shortly thereafter that Medeiros urged the Bears to take some time off the clock, giving them the goal of slicing off three minutes before attempting any kind of shot. It worked, as the possession was capped by Johnson's third goal of the game and Stonington was able to escape with the victory.

Medeiros said he sent the team a text earlier in the day Thursday, letting the players know that the Bears are entering a crucial stretch that could lead to the Division II title and that Bacon, which had won six in a row coming in, was one of the keys.

"If we lose and Bacon wins out, they win the ECC title," Medeiros said. "I told them, 'It's literally all right here.' ... These girls have been playing all together, playing much better as a team to the core. We took those three losses, but we figured it out."