Submitted by, Janice Calvi-Ruimerman
(April 23, 2022) On this sunny Saturday, the Cougars pummeled the Cromwell Panthers with a 15-9 win by the Haddam Killingworth High School Girls Varsity team followed by a 10-1 victory by the Junior Varsity team.
The Cougars’ claws were out as HK scored the first of 15 goals to overpower the Panthers at the first draw. With cheering support from the HK Boys team, Seniors Yumi Imai and Grace Cassidy scored 3 goals each and Emily Sorrentino added 1 to Juniors, Audrey Wrinn’s 2 goals and Sophie Ramino’s 1 goal while Freshman, Seanna (SeaSea) Ruimerman scored the first and last goal of the game totaling 5 goals for her to the Panthers’ dismay.  Kyla Mazzotta, defending Senior, forced 2 turnovers leading to two of the above-mentioned goals. The draw on the Panthers was no match for the speed and agility of Cougars Sophomore Samantha (Sammy) Ruimerman, who easily gained possession, feeding the ball to the Cougars offense. Ava Ramino, Freshman, and Georgia Cancroft, Junior, flipped the script for the Cromwell team when they gained possession, moving the ball down the Cougars line. Defenders Te’a Norman and Peyton Tyler, both Sophomores, were in total sync with Senior Goalie Rhianna (Rhi) Phipps, thereby ensuring that these Panthers gained no ground in Higganum on this day.
The Junior Varsity (JV) team was not going to give Cromwell any room to play. Gabriela (Gabby) Williams held the net, giving up only one goal to the Cougars’ 10. The score was shared by Sophomores Aly Campbell scoring 3 goals, Brigitte Battistoni and Jaimey DiNapoli scoring 2 each, with Juniors, Kelsie Piela, Sarah Birkmeyer and Juliana (J-Gag) Gagliardi scoring 1 goal each.  Sophomores Leeha Reddy and Caroline Ignatuck made certain that Cromwell remained empty at the buzzer.
Great game, Lady Cougars. Way to keep those sticks up!
See the full season’s game schedule on HKHS Athletics website.
