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WILTON, Conn. The Wilton High girls lacrosse team nearly erased a seven-goal second-half deficit against Greenwich in a rain-soaked conference semifinal Monday, but the Warriors could not net the equalizer.
The Cardinals sweated out the final 10 minutes to hang on for an 11-10 victory, ending Wiltons hopes for a third straight conference title.
We just did not show up in the first half, Wilton head coach Meredith Meyran said. When you put a team like Greenwich in the position we put them in, they are ready to kill.
Greenwich dominated in just about every facet in the first half, cleaning up on face-offs, ground balls and time of possession. The Cardinals had built an 8-3 lead at halftime and extended it to 10-3 with 20:33 to play.
The Warriors came alive with a five-goal explosion in less than four minutes. Wilton had nearly 10 minutes to tie it up, but Greenwichs defense clamped down and would not relinquish the lead.
Casey Pearsall, Tegan Helms and Shannon Quinlan accounted for all of Wiltons scoring. Pearsall had a breakaway with a great lane to the net with 3:25 to play, but Greenwichs Tori Dunster came out of nowhere to strip the ball. Greenwich ran out the clock in a tense final two minutes to seal Wiltons fate.
It just took us too long to come back, Meyran said. Greenwich played a great game on defense, and it kind of put a lot of our players on their heels. [Greenwich] did a good job dictating the pace of the game.
Wilton (14-4) will enter the Class M state playoffs next week as the fourth-seeded team.
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