The Conard boys lacrosse team hosted Ellington Monday afternoon in West Hartford.

By Paul Palmer

Using a balanced scoring attack, a solid defense, and a physically dominant style of play, the Conard boys lacrosse team picked up its second win of the season with a convincing 17-4 victory over Ellington on Monday.

Nine different Chieftains would score in the team’s biggest offensive output of the year coming against a Knights team that was full of heart, but has no seniors on the roster, and just could not compete with Conard’s size and speed.

It didn’t take the hosts long to start the scoring as Aidan Shaffer netted the first of his two goals in the game just 1:36 into the first period. Two minutes later it was C.J. Nelson knocking the ball loose from the Ellington goalie as he was trying to clear the ball. Nelson picked up the loose ball and found Will Tousignant all alone in front of the empty cage and he made it 2-1.

With just under half the period gone, Baden Krisst scored the first of his four goals when he capped his solo run on goal with a low rocket for the three-goal lead.

“You always worry about Monday games,” said Conard coach Matt Cersosimo. “You come in after the weekend and no practice.”

After Ellington had scored, it was Krisst again, this time following his own rebound and flicking it into the net. The Chieftains’ next score came on a nice passing play when Shaffer found Tousignant, who passed to Nelson, who finished off the pretty passing play. Conard would add two more scores and the Bobcats would get one more to make it 7-2 after the first. “It’s good to show them that what we do in practice can work in the games,” said the Conard coach. “We ask ourselves after every practice and every game, are we getting better?”

Conard opened the second frame with a goal just 51 seconds into play. Shaffrer beat one defender one on one and then made a strong move to find the space to let his shot fly. After  Brayden Grainger (3 goals) made it 9-2, the Chieftains killed off a man-down situation and late in the second scored on another strong team effort.

It started with midfielder Namar Gaynor picking up a loose ball in his own defensive zone. He ran over an Ellington defender on the way into the attacking zone. Owen McGoldrick eventually got the ball behind the Ellington net and found Grainger in front for the goal. Conard would push its lead to 11-2 at the half – a position they have not found themselves in this season. In fact, the Chieftains (2-8) have lost five games  by nine or more goals, and Cersosimo let his team’s change of fate teach his players a lesson.

“At halftime I told them to look at the scoreboard. And reminded them we have been on the other side of that score this season. I told them to finish strong and finish with sportsmanship.”

For Ellington, things would not get much better as they would lose a total of three players to injury in the physical game, but they kept fighting. Five minutes into the third, Conard goalie Trevor Dalton found himself coming face-to-face with a Knights attacker and was forced to come up big on a save. Thirty seconds later Krisst would score again with Conard on the man advantage.

With a 10-goal lead in the third, Cersosimo was able to give playing time to all the players on the roster, including backup goalie Nam Nguyen who was called upon to make several strong saves over the rest of the game.

“They [bench players] work as hard as anybody else and it’s awesome to see them get out there and run the system. Credit to them,” Cersosimo said of his team.

The high of the win will soon be tested for the Chieftains. Their next two games are among the toughest for them as they face Southington on Thursday and then next Tuesday it’s crosstown rival Hall to conclude regular season play.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.