Submitted by Mike Kelly.
In a drizzly, muddy, mess of a game played inside a rain cloud, the defending 2021 Shoreline Conference Champion Haddam-Killingworth High School Cougars Boys lacrosse team defeated Shoreline rival Lyme-Old Lyme Tuesday evening, April 26, 2022, 7-4. The victory pushed the Cougars’ record to 6-1 on the season.
Early on, the Cougars did find themselves in a hole when Lyme-Old Lyme punched one in from dead center above the crease for the 1-0 advantage, but the Wildcats would not lead again. HK’s Alex Phipps provided an answer shortly thereafter, putting his defender on skates with a sweet dodge from above the right post to knot it 1-1. Middie Nolan Braren then found freshman Gunnar Howes out front for the sidearm score, 2-1 HK. The “Brothers Phipps” struck when Alex found sibling Cory for the nifty pump fake and poke above the right crease, 3-1 HK. Then d-pole Matteo Piacenti closed out the first half with a coast-to-coast clear, dishing it to Howes for a sidearm above the right post, 4-1 HK.
In the third period Braren again found Howes for the score and hat trick, the first of his high school career, pushing the HK lead to 5-1. Lyme-Old Lyme answered to close within three to end the third, 5-2. Braren then quickly answered early in the fourth with a strike from the right side of the crease, 6-2 HK advantage. Lyme-Old Lyme would not go away quietly, responding with two goals of their own midway through the fourth to make things interesting, 6-4 HK. The Cougars defense denied any plans for a comeback, however, when d-pole Sam Young cleared the length, flipped it to LSM Jack Insalaco, who then found C. Phipps sliding down the right alley for the shot, rebound, and strike, 7-4 HK. Game over.
Arch-rival Morgan Thursday.
Photos by Liz Griswold.
