Weston Girls Lacrosse Opens With Playoff Rout

WESTON, Conn. – Weston High’s girls lacrosse team surprised people with its run to the Class S title last spring. This year, however, the Trojans are considered one of the favorites to hoist the championship hardware when the title games are played June 9.

The third-seeded Trojans took the first step Thursday toward a repeat with a convincing 20-9 victory over No. 14 Sacred Heart Academy. Sophomore Lindsay Koch scored seven goals to lead Weston (15-4). Sacred Heart Academy finishes 8-8-1.

Fran Holmes added six goals and two assists, and Catie Ledwick had five goals and three assists for Weston. Steph Thompson and Nicole DeCanio added one each as Weston advanced to a quarterfinal meeting Monday against No. 11 Old Lyme, which upset No. 6 Ledyard, 12-8, on Thursday.

Weston won last year’s title as a No. 5 seed with no expectations. “Last year I felt like we had nothing to lose,’’ said Ledwick, one of six seniors on the team. “No matter how far we went, we could feel proud of ourselves. This year we have high expectations, and we don’t want to fall short. We know there is going to be a lot of tough games.”

The final margin of Thursday’s win was a bit deceptive. Weston led 9-1 with 6:56 left in the first half after Ledwick’s fourth goal of the half. Sacred Heart scored four straight and was within 10-6 at halftime. The teams traded goals in the first 3:09 of the second half before Weston broke it open with six straight, including two by Koch.

“Once we started to realize that we needed them to make passes to get goals, we played better on defense,’’ coach Megan Murphy said.

Weston is dangerous because of its attack. Koch, a sophomore, and Ledwick recently surpassed the 100-goal mark for their careers. The 20 goals was their most since a 22-11 win over Pomperaug on April 13, and it was the 10th time the Trojans have scored 15 or more.

“We have four, five or six goals that can score five or six goals a game,’’ Murphy said. “Hopefully as we go forward, that will help us.”

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