SHARE

New Canaan Falls Without Star Attacker, Goalie

The New Canaan High School girls lacrosse team got the bad news just an hour before its Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference semifinal game against Wilton. It would be without its star scorer Olivia Hompe and starting goalie Elizabeth O'Sullivan because of "CIAC eligibility rule violations."

The combo of attacker Hompe and midfielder Sarah Mannelly carried the Rams all year. Missing one of those key cogs was like Shaq without Kobe, Laurel without Hardy, or peanut butter without jelly.

The Rams managed to stay close to Wilton despite that setback. Jana Persky played her first game in net since eighth grade and made 10 saves. Lauren Freeland did her best to fill Hompe's shoes, scoring four goals. It was not enough, however, as Wilton pulled away to eliminate the Rams, 14-11.

"It was really sloppy. There were a lot of nerves out there," New Canaan head coach Kristin Wood said. "The effort and the intensity was there, but it just needed to be cleaned up. Hopefully, we'll get that for the state tournament."

The two teams traded goals early and were tied 3-3 just eight minutes into the game. The gaping hole left by the absence of Hompe and O'Sullivan soon became apparent, though, and Wilton drove right through it.

The Warriors pulled away and dominated possession of the ball from the midway point of the first half and onward. Wilton held an 8-6 halftime lead, but that would be the closest New Canaan would get.

Mannelly added a hat trick on offense while Bea Eppler and Liz DeTour contributed two goals apiece.

"This game goes to show that any given day if a group of girls have the desire, they can do it," Wood said. "I've never experienced anything quite like [the suspensions], but we're going to go out there with what we have and do our best."

New Canaan (12-6) will wait to find out who its opponent will be in the Class L state tournament and whether it will get its goalie and star scorer back.

Follow Eric Gendron on Twitter for the latest MSC sports coverage.

Like The Daily New Canaan on Facebook.

to follow Daily Voice New Canaan and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE