Written by Mike Kelly.
Haddam Killingworth High School Boys Varsity Lacrosse suffered their first loss of the season Monday night, May 10, 2021, falling 13-7 to out-of-conference foe East Catholic. Unfortunately, the final score does not do justice to the competitiveness of this contest. The Cougars went toe-to-toe with their opponents for most of the game. It was not until late in the fourth quarter, when fatigue appeared to become HK’s biggest nemesis, that East Catholic was able to secure the win.
Perhaps there are no such things as moral victories in sports. Perhaps. For those who watched this contest, however, it certainly appeared as though the HK Cougars may have come away with one. This was a very good East Catholic team. They came into the game with a record of 7-2, having lost only to Xavier by one goal and Hamden Hall by two. They had dominated most of the other schools they had faced, many from much larger school districts. They had beaten Granby Memorial by 13 goals, Conard by 12 goals, Berlin by 15 goals, Avon by 1, Newington by 12 goals, and ST. Paul Catholic by 9 goals. In short, this was a very strong program that came to play Monday night. For HK however, it was business as usual.
The Cougars heart and hustle was on display from the beginning. After a strike by East Catholic to take a 1-0 lead, HK played excellent defense on the ride, intercepting a clear and quickly turning it into a fast break. Attack Ryder Wink slid in to tie the score 1-1. This type of defensive effort was displayed by HK all game. D-poles Matteo Piacenti, Nathan Marciniec and Aiden Griswold swarmed passing lanes, picked off interceptions, and swallowed up loose balls (Piacenti 6, Griswold 3). In addition, LSM’s Jack Insalaco and Sam Young were masterful on clears and loose balls as well (Insalaco 2, Young 6). In all, HK faced tremendous pressure on clears all game, and handled it well. Goalies Ethan Wright and Braden Civiello split time in the cage, collecting 6 saves (Wright 1, Civiello 5).
Late in the first quarter Senior Middie Cal Braren fired a rope from 15 yards in front of the cage to put HK on top, 2-1.
East Catholic tied the game 2-2 to start the second. Then, just like they did 1000 times in the backyard growing up, Middie C. Braren found his little brother Nolan Braren for the quick strike, putting the Cougars up 3-2. Later in the second East Catholic equalized again, 3-3.
Freshman Middie Cooper Savoy scored a side-arm shot in front of the crease with two minutes left in the half, putting HK up 4-3. East Catholic responded quickly with two strikes of their own, taking a 5-4 lead into the half.
At the start of the third Middie C. Braren finessed a dirty behind the back shot on the doorstep, tying the game 5-5. On the next possession C. Braren found Alex Phipps for the quick hitter, and suddenly HK was up 6-5. Moments later Middie Savoy scored another goal, pushing the Cougar lead 7-5.
From that point forward it was all East Catholic, however, and fatigue certainly appeared to be a factor for the Cougars down the stretch. The team had played its heart out for 40 minutes, and just did not have enough in the tank over the last 8 minutes to end with a victory.
Late in the first half, during a timeout, a voice could be heard inside the HK huddle, exhorting teammates… “You guys, we can play with this team! They are not better than us! We can play with these guys!” Indeed, you can HK Cougars. And you did.
Photos by Liz Griswold.
