GIRLS LACROSSE TOURNAMENT: 5 PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. DARIEN — ONE FOR THE THUMB Plot line: The No. 4 seed Darien girls lacrosse team is the favorite to win its fifth straight Class L title for coach Lisa Lindley. The Blue Wave have depth at every position with a talented group of starters led by midfielder Emma Jacques and goalie Carly Schoudel. Darien enters the state tournament coming off a 17-7 win over Ridgefield in the FCIAC tournament final. It is the sixth straight FCIAC title for Darien with Schoudel (11 saves) named the tournament MVP. Jacques had five goals in the game. You should know: Since 2007, Darien has eight state championships with four Class L titles, a Class M title in 2011 and three Division I titles (2007-09). The CIAC went from a Division I-II tournament format to a Class L-M-S format in 2011. 2. CLASS L GETS INTERESTING

Plot line: New Canaan has won four of the last five Class M titles, including the last two, but moves up to Class L this season as the No. 8 seed. While Darien is favored to win the L title, the semifinals will be interesting, which is where New Canaan and Darien will likely meet. Led by midfielder Campbell Armstrong, if any team has a shot to derail Darien’s quest for a fifth straight title it’s New Canaan. The other bracket is just as interesting with No. 7 Ridgefield, No. 2 Greenwich and No. 3 Cheshire other tough outs. You should know: In the regular season, it was a battle and a half with Darien coming away with an 11-10 double overtime win over New Canaan. 3. PECHMANN THE KEY FOR CHESHIRE Plot line: Cheshire has a strong starting group with balanced scoring among players like Annie Acquavita, Annie Eddy, Vicki Palmer and Mia Pulsiciano. But the key for a deep run by the Rams will be talented goalie Carolynn Pechmann. She had 10 saves in a 7-5 loss to Hand in the SCC tournament final. In one series of plays

she had four straight close-range saves in the second half to keep Cheshire’s hopes alive for a possible comeback. You should know: The Rams went 1-1 against FCIAC teams in the regular season with a 15-3 win over Trumbull and 11-10 overtime loss to Greenwich. 4. SCC HAS SHOT IN WIDE OPEN CLASS M

Plot line: Since New Canaan has moved to Class L, and no FCIAC teams in the field, the Class M tournament is wide open with the SCC comprising half of the field (10 of 20 teams). Leading the way is No. 3 Hand, which is coming off a 7-5 win over Cheshire in the SCC tournament final. Among the many standouts for Hand are scorers Glenna-Kate Gies, Nora McCarthy and Emma Sullivan and goalie Caitlyn Harvey. But the key player is midfielder Taylor Scully who makes an impact on offense, defense and the transition game. No. 4 Branford has the coaching and talent for the potential to meet Hand in the Class M final. You should know: Hand has been runnerup twice in Class M with a 13-7 loss to New Canaan in the 2015 Class M final and 15-5 loss to Darien in 2011. 5. SHORELINE COULD GO FAR IN CLASS S Plot line: Four Shoreline Conference teams qualified for the CIAC Class S tournament. No. 2 Old Lyme and No. 6 North Branford have the potential to meet in the semifinals. Old Lyme is coming off an 11-9 win over North Branford in the Shoreline Conference tournament final. The Wildcats are led by scorers Sydney Cowell and Anna Mesham and goalie Hannah Guenther. The Thunderbirds have balanced scoring led by Adrianna Ingarra, Emmy Norton, Sydney Hogan and Stephanie Seymour.

You should know: Old Lyme and North Branford will try to make their first appearance in a CIAC state final.