By Mike Kelly
(April 14, 2023) — The two-time defending Shoreline Conference Champion Haddam Killingworth Cougars Boys Varsity Lacrosse team defeated in-conference and bitter rival the Morgan Huskies 7-5 on April 13, 2023, handing the visitors their first defeat of the season. With the win HKHS moves to 3-1 on the season, 2-1 in conference.
The contest was a gritty back-and-forth affair, one in which the outcome was not clear until late in the fourth period, when the Cougars—demonstrating heart and hustle—put the game away.
The Huskies struck first at around the 7:52 mark of the first period, firing a low-to-low lefty shot that sneaked in just below the stick of HK’s Braden Civiello, 1-0 Morgan. The goal represented one of only a handful that would get past Civiello’s cage defense; he posted an impressive ten saves on the night.
With five minutes left in the quarter, Senior Co-Captain Nolan Braren put the Cougars on the board first, blasting a sidearm winner into the top right corner from twenty yards out, 1-1. Moments later Braren found Freshman Ethan Pitts dead-center on the Morgan doorstep; Pitts bounced it in for the 2-1 HK lead. The teams traded possessions with no scoring for a good portion of the second quarter, but late in the period, during a man-up situation, the Huskies scored the equalizer, 2-2. Moments later the Cougars benefitted with a man-up of their own, taking advantage when Senior Co-Captain Alex Phipps rolled deftly from X and buried one cleanly into the net, 3-2 HK.
In a somewhat quirky end to the half, the visiting Huskies scored on a fast break to tie things at 3-3, after a lost HK possession rolled into the Cougars backfield. Morgan easily scooped it up and punched it in—with little HK defense in the area to speak of. Cougars Head Coach Fred Federico expressed his displeasure with the series of events, suggesting it should have been a dead ball whistle before Morgan could advance the play.
If you believe in karma, then perhaps there was some merit to Coach Federico’s protest, because to begin the third period HK was gifted with a two-man-up situation from which they were able to capitalize, when Braren fired a low-to-high side arm from fifteen yards above the crease to give the Cougars the 4-3 lead.
The Huskies would not go quietly into that good night, however, responding with a strike of their own to tie things, 4-4. Then, with 1:38 left in the third period, after some to-be-expected chit-chat between the two bitter rivals, Morgan was granted another man-up and scored, knotting things again at 4-4. Then yet again the Huskies were granted another man-up situation for an infraction this reporter could not decipher, from which they scored and took the lead, 5-4 Morgan.
The visiting Huskies had all the momentum. They were coming off back-to-back man-up situations to end the third period, and now to begin the fourth they had another in their pocket. For a lesser squad, one perhaps lacking the grit and desire to overcome, this might have been the proverbial straw that broke HK’s back. Not for this 2023 Cougars squad. The HK defense stood tall, preventing the Huskies from scoring any easy ones. In fact, they would score no more goals on the night.
The admirable defensive stand seemed to ignite the HK offense. Inspired by his teammates on the defensive end, Braren took it upon himself to score the equalizer with 10:09 left in the game, using a pick from Phipps to juke above the right post and find net, 5-5. Moments later Braren went to work once again, this time sliding deftly from goal-line-extended to shimmy past his defender and pop one into the top right corner, 6-5 HK lead. To cap things off, the ultimate hustle machine on rides, Sophomore Gunnar Howes found some space rolling left-to-right and punched one in past the right bar, 7-5 HK.
As with all the games this season, this was again truly a team effort—and the defensive side of the ball needs to be recognized as well. Bear in mind, just earlier this week this same Morgan team put up gaudy offensive numbers, defeating Valley 13-3. Any notion of a similar outcome was quickly snuffed out by the strength of the HK defense. Beyond the heroics of Civiello in cage, d-middies Cooper Pitts (who won 10 of 15 faceoffs) and Tyler Perry menaced the Morgan midfielders from endline to endline. LSM Jake Mackenzie made some nifty moves to save clears, and d-poles Charlie Maxwell, Aiden Griswold and Nathan Kelly again locked things down above the crease. Old Lyme next.
Photos by Liz Griswold
