By Mike Kelly.
On a windswept home field Thursday evening, April 29, 2022, the defending 2021 Shoreline Conference Champion Haddam Killingworth Cougars Boys Lacrosse team defeated conference rival Morgan 7-1. This was the second victory for the Cougars against Morgan this season, having bested them 5-1 earlier in the year. In a game that never really felt in doubt, the HK defense stymied and befuddled any semblance of a Morgan attack, hounding from the first whistle until the last. From a spectator’s perspective, this was a one-sided contest.
Haddam Killingworth High School started things off early in the first, again sparked by the D, when LSM Jack Insalaco took a loose ball coast-to-coast, dishing to Senior Cory Phipps for the goal, 1-0 HK. Middie Nolan Braren scored next, dodging down the left alley and firing a dart into the top right corner of the cage, 2-0 HK. Moments later, the Cougars appeared to run the same play again, with the same outcome, when Braren again dodged and scored, 3-0 HK.
Midway through the second, attackman Aaron McLeod freed up Alex Phipps with a nicely timed pick. Phipps then rolled right-to-left above the crease, used a silky shoulder fake that froze his defender, and buried a sidearm into the net, 4-0 HK.
In the third period, Morgan was able to tally a cheap one during a man-up advantage, 4-1 HK. The Cougars C. Phipps answered quickly, rolling from X and firing a sidearm past the top right post, 5-1 HK.
Later in the fourth quarter, Phipps again found Braren for the goal and hat trick, 6-1 HK. Start the bus. The brothers Phipps ended the show with Alex feeding Cory for the one-timer in front of an empty net, 7-1 HK.
Valley Regional Tuesday, May 3, 2022.
Photos by Liz Griswold.
