Conard hosted Newington at home in West Hartford on Friday afternoon, earning a decisive 19-8 win over the Nor’easters.

Ruby Czajkowski battles with a Newington player. Conard vs. Newington girls lacrosse. April 8, 2022. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

By Paul Palmer

It took the Conard Chieftains a little while to get going in their home opener with Newington on Friday. After staking the Nor’easters to a 2-0 lead just 4:30 minutes in the match, senior Sophia Lynch and her teammates exploded for 19 goals and the win.

“Our intensity was not where it needed to be at the start,” head coach Meg Cersosimo said of her lacrosse team. “But they worked it out and found it themselves.”

After starting off slow, Conard would run off eight of the next nine goals to build a lead.

Leah Williams got the offense going for the hosts to make it 2-1 on an assist from Lynch. But Newington’s Hailey Gaydos would answer 20 seconds later and it was 3-1 Newington.

Leah Williams of Conard battles for possession of the opening draw. Conard vs. Newington girls lacrosse. April 8, 2022. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

After Celia Gruber cut it to a one-goal deficit with free position score, Lynch decided to take control of the game. She would score four straight for Conard in the span of just under five minutes. The best of them may have been when Maddie Sweeney forced a turnover for Conard in their defensive zone, the Chieftains sprinted up the field and found Lynch alone with just the Newington goalie, and the senior made no mistake, going high to the right side to make it a 6-3 Conard lead.

“She’s fast, smart, and a workhorse,” said Cersosimo of Lynch.

Conard senior Sophia Lynch gets the shot w ahead of the Newington defender, Conard vs. Newington girls lacrosse. April 8, 2022. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

But just after her goal, Lynch was sent off for two minutes when she was yellow carded for a push from behind. Conard managed to gain early control of the ball, however, and worked it around the Newington defensive perimeter for nearly the entire two minutes.

Moments after returning to the field, it was Lynch finding Nicole Gorman who hit a turnaround shot at 3:58 to make it a 7-3 game. Olivia Hole would add a goal for the Chieftains less than a minute later when she found space and made a solo run from the lower right side of the box to right in front, and buried her shot. The Nor’easters would add a goal before the intermission.

Conard was helped in the transition game by speedy  defender Leah Nelson. Time after time, she would race the ball up field in transition getting her team the opportunities to work for goals. The Chieftains held a 10-4 lead after 25 minutes.

Lynch continued to have the hot hand as the second half began. She scored three goals in the opening 4:12, her final one coming on a solid effort from Ruby Czajkowksi. The junior attack took the ball and cut in on goal, and drawing defenders,she kicked out a pass to Lynch who moved in and scored.

Moments later Czajkowski was stopped in a free position shot, but Hole found the ball in a tangle of players and scored Conard’s 14th goal.

Defender Leah Nelson applies the pressure to Newington’s Mackenzie Hillman. Conard vs. Newington girls lacrosse. April 8, 2022. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

Newington would run off the next two scores to make it 14-6 before Hole would find the back of the net again at 12:53. A minute and a half later Lynch would pick up her second yellow guard, leading to her being sent off with her side up by nine. But once again her teammate were up to the task, again killing off the two minutes of being down a player and keeping control of the ball and the game.

Czajkowski and Gorman would each score before Newington netted two and Czajkowski wrapped up all the scoring with Conard’s 19th with just 57 seconds to play.

“I’m excited to see where we go,” said Conard’s coach after the game. Sitting at 1-1 on the young season, Cersosimo already knows the character of her club. “They are very hard working and gritty group.”

No. 11 Dani DiGiacomo turns the corner on a Newington player. Conard vs. Newington girls lacrosse. April 8, 2022. Photo credit: Paul Palmer

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