By Mike Kelly.
Haddam Killingworth High School Boys Varsity Lacrosse went on the road Thursday evening, May 20, 2021 to beat Cromwell in convincing fashion, 17-1. The Cougars are now 9-4 on the season, 9-1 in the Shoreline Conference.
Given the lopsided victory, HK Coach Lauren Braren was able to go a little deeper into the bench, giving some of the younger players valuable playing time. Attack Tyler Gagliardi, Middie Aaron McLeod, and D-Poles Niel Scheppach and Nathan Kelly all saw quality minutes. Both McLeod and Gagliardi notched their first goals of the season.
Cromwell struck first in the game, taking a 1-0 advantage. The Cougars seemed a little flat on offense in the beginning, taking some time to find their flow. Midway through the first quarter middie Cooper Savoy equalized with a side-arm 15 yards in front of the cage. From that point forward HK rolled. On the next possession middie Cal Braren found Ryder Wink who bounced one in for the 2-1 lead.
In the second quarter Wink returned the favor, finding C. Braren for the 3-1 lead. Savoy then struck again with a step-down from 15 yards out, 4-1 HK. Then from the same spot and virtually same shot, Savoy again hits the back of the net with 4:38 left in the quarter, HK 5-1. Moments later attack Aiden Coleman picked and popped a loose ball rebound on the doorstep, HK 6-1. Coleman then fed Savoy from the X for another, HK 7-1.
In the third quarter middie Wink scored three goals in succession, with two assists from C. Braren and one from Coleman to push the HK lead to 10-1. On the next possession Coleman dodged from the right side for another winner, HK 11-1.
At the start of the fourth quarter attack Wink stumbled, bumbled, and rumbled his way through the heart of the Panther defense for another HK strike, 12-1. Clearly, the wheels were starting to come off for the Cromwell Panthers. Coleman then hit C. Braren who then dropped it back to Coleman for the give-and-go one-timer, HK 13-1. C. Braren then burned another from top-right, 14-1 HK. On the next possession middie Nolan Braren, not to be outclassed by his big brother, got loose on a fast break, dropping one in with a dirty behind-the-back shot, 15-1. C. Braren then found middie A. Mcleod cutting in front of the cage for the strike, 16-1. Immediately after Savoy found attack T. Gagliardi rolling left to right for the overhand step-down, 17-1 HK. Mercifully for Cromwell, at long last the clock ran out.
Photos by Liz Griswold.
