Franklin earns first win over NDA
‘Absolutely huge for this whole team’
FRANKLIN >> A week ago, the Franklin girls lacrosse team fell behind against Westwood, then made a furious rally. However, it was not enough, and the latter earned the victory in the Div. 1 state final rematch.
On Wednesday, hosting Notre Dame Academy (Hingham), Franklin again found itself in an early deficit, and trailed most of the game.
This time, the Panthers finished the job.
Although Franklin did not enjoy a lead until well into the second half, the Panthers held on to it once they took hold, and earned a 9-7 win.
With the triumph, Franklin improves to 13-2, while Notre Dame drops to 13-3. Both remain state title contenders, Franklin in Div. 1, and NDA in Div. 2.
“We’ve been down. We’ve been up. We just keep saying to the girls, ‘Just play your game,'” Franklin coach Kristin Igoe Guarino said. “We needed to win some draws, and make some clears, and the girls did that. I thought our center circle play was much better in the second half.”
This marked the first time Franklin has defeated the state power NDA program.
“It’s absolutely huge for this whole team, especially since we’ve never beaten them before,” Franklin junior Lindsay Atkinson said. “It’s really awesome. We all went into this with such a positive impact. … For the whole team, it’s, honestly, just really, really awesome.”
Things weren’t so awesome early for Franklin, though, as the Panthers trailed, 5-3, at halftime. But Franklin saw the better of the possession in the second half, and did not miss many slides on defense. After Stella Regan (two goals) scored on a free position with 17:42 to play, Franklin evened the score at 6.
“We practice that (making the slides) all the time in practice. The girls have really bought into playing team defense,” Igoe Guarino said. “We got beat by Westwood with one slide and not the second. Those types of games really show us what we need to work on, so we worked on them, and made the change.”
Jacqueline O’Neil (two goals) then scored, and Franklin had its first lead, 7-6, with 11:01 to play. Atkinson — who scored a teamhigh three goals — scored with 5:25 to play to increase the advantage to 8-6.
NDA’s Alexa Kenney — who also had a team-high three goals — scored to cut it to 8-7 with 4:23 left. But Franklin won the ensuing draw, then completed the scoring with a Kaitlyn Carney goal.
NDA won the next draw, but after a turnover, Franklin enjoyed the majority of the possession the rest of the game, and closed out the win.
Katie Peterson also scored a goal for Franklin, which had a balanced attack. Jane Hilsabeck scored twice for NDA, and Emma Connerty and Anna Clair each scored once for the Cougars.
“These are the games that we want to play in,” NDA coach Meredith McGinnis said. “These are the opponents we need to play in order to be the best team we can (be).”