If Mondays game had reset after the first 15 minutes, Brookfield would have won handily. Luckily for No. 2 seed New Canaan, the Rams used the early minutes of the first half to unleash a seven-goal run, giving them enough of a cushion to overcome the seventh-seeded Bobcats. The Rams held on to that big lead to pick up a 15-11 victory and advance to the Division I semifinals.
Senior Anjalie Christie drove the offense for much of that initial surge, scoring the first three goals and feeding Katherine Pipitt for the fourth. Brookfield didnt get on the board until the 19th minute of the half, when Kathryn Marron and Emily Leonard scored within 21 seconds of each other. But Christie stalled the Bobcat run with a fast-break goal on the face-off following Leonards goal. She scored six of her seven goals in the first half, helping the Rams gain a 10-4 advantage at halftime.
With both teams going after the ball eagerly, the second half was marked by a string of big penalties. In a span of six minutes, the two sides combined for six goals off penalties close to the goal, with New Canaan picking up four of those, including a pair by Sarah Mannelly in a span of one minute.
Defensively, I think we need to clean it up a little bit, Rams coach Kristin Wood said. I think we were being a little lazy and just sticking instead of actually playing body. If we clean that up in practice tomorrow well be ready to go.
After that point, Brookfield charged back with the last four goals of the game, but ran out of time at the end. I knew my girls would pull it off, Wood said. But they gave us a pretty good little run in the second half. Our whole big theme this year has been play the whole 50 minutes, and we need to keep getting at that.
Next up for the Rams is No. 6 Glastonbury, which beat No. 3 Daniel Hand 15-12 in their quarterfinal matchup. The semifinal is scheduled for Wednesday, but the CIAC has not announced the location or times of the semifinals.
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