The first meeting between the Wilton and Darien high school girls lacrosse teams since their triple-overtime FCIAC semifinal last June had everyone flashing back to that game on Thursday afternoon. This time it only took two overtimes, but the latest edition might have had an even more dramatic finish.
Wilton grabbed a 14-12 lead in the second overtime with just over a minute remaining. But Darien would not go quietly as Lexi Perticone and Brynn Gasparino scored to knot the game back up with 19 seconds remaining. It looked as though the two teams were destined once again to head into a third overtime.
Tegan Helms was not going to let that happen. With five goals on the day already, Helms scooped the ball up off the faceoff and sprinted to the net. She took a shot that hit the bottom of the right post with four seconds left. Everyone else on the field gave up, thinking the period was over. Helms sprinted forward, scooped up her own rebound, leapt in the air, and snuck the ball in over Darien goalie Cayla Waters' left shoulder. There was 0.3 seconds left on the clock and the Wilton bench exploded in celebration.
"Megan [Boepple] was yelling at me, 'What are you doing?' Everyone thought it was over, but I just ran for the ball and shot," Helms said. "It was up and down all day. Competing with Darien is so much fun and this win is huge."
Wilton's first-year head coach Caitlin Jackson was in the stands for the Warriors' thrilling win last season. Now she has one of her own, but she knows there is still a lot left to settle.
"It feels pretty good, but the girls still have a long road ahead of them," Jackson said. "We've still got some work to do so we don't have to go into an overtime like this. The game could have gone either way, but I trust in my players."
Helms and Casey Pearsall carried the Warriors all day with six goals each. Maddie Kratz was huge in net, coming up with 15 saves.
Wilton will try to avoid a letdown when it travels to Lakeland High School (Yorktown, N.Y.) on Monday. That game faces off at 4:30 p.m.
Follow Eric Gendron on Twitter for the latest MSC sports coverage.
Like The Daily Wilton on Facebook.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
