Greenwich downs McMahon in a Class L state qualifier

Greenwich dealt the Cheshire High school girls lacrosse team its lone loss of the season to date and the Cardinals earned another opportunity to play the Rams by excelling in their state tournament qualifier on Friday night.

The Cardinals scored six goals the first seven mintues of action and never looked back, recording a 16-4 victory over host Brien McMahon in a CIAC Class L Tournament qualifier on Friday.

Greenwich (9-9) visits No. 1-seeded Cheshire on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the opening round of the Class L Tournament. In the team’s regular season matchup on April 11, Greenwich edged Cheshire, 13-12, with Leah Caputo scored the game-winner with 1:49 remaining in the second half.

“Our team is so excited and pumped for this game,” GHS coach Rachel Vallarelli said. “Cheshire is a great team and we’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the state this season. There’s a lot of excitement going into this game.”

Friday’s matchup against McMahon saw seniors Paige Finneran and Grace Fahey pace the Cardinals’ offense. Fahey and Finneran scored four goals apiece, while Caputo, a junior, registered a hat trick for the victors. Greenwich jumped out to a 6-0 lead, with Finneran tallying twice and Fahey and Caputo each adding a goal.

“We got off to a great start,” Vallarelli said. “Our goal was to get everyone into the game and we were able to do that. Going into the game, we talked about putting the pedal to the floor and not letting up the entire game.”

Finneran opened the scoring, tallying 1:42 into the game. Caputo scored at the 21:58 mark, then Finneran and Fahey converted shots less than a minute of each other, making it 4-0 with 20:58 to go in the the first half.

Senior Katie Large tallied twice and senior Jennifer Kelly had one goal and one assist in the win. Junior Jessica Ware and sophomore Grace Collier notched one goal apiece for the Cardinals.

McMahon received two goals from senior Charlotte Hussey. Sophomore Anna Makover and sophomore Brook Thill each had one goal for the Senators.

Fahey also assisted on two goals for Greenwich, which received a combined five saves from goalies Sloane Loveless, Hailey Hires and Kaleigh Jackson.

Senior defender Olivia Hoekman caused four turnovers to lead Greenwich’s defensive effort, along with senior Olivia Caan.

The Cardinals were sparked in the circle by Caputo who had four draw controls and Finneran (eight draw controls).

“We did well on our draws, we caused turnovers and our offensive execution was impressive,” Vallarelli said. “Defensively, we locked it down.”