The Conard girls lacrosse team hosted – and won – the CCC West Tournament on Wednesday in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

It started out as something of laughter and turned into a nail biter, but the Conard girls lacrosse team won the CCC West Tournament 9-7 over Simsbury on Wednesday. It marks the first time in 20 years that the team has won the tournament, and this year it was a double as they also won the regular season CCC West title.

“From the first practice I knew this team was special,” said co-captain Maddy Sweeney.

Conard entered the game with a 15-2 mark, including a regular season win over Simsbury. The Red Wolves were ranked No. 7 in Class LL and the Trojans, with an identical 15-2 record, were third in Class L. “Simsbury is a very good team and this win gets us ready forsStates,” said Conard head coach Meg Cersosimo after the victory Wednesday.

On a blistering hot day, playing on the turf would push the players on both sides to the maximum. The weather, combined with how the game played out, would test the teamwork and spirit of Conard.

It was Simsbury getting on the board first just 1:47 in when Madeline Francis scored the first of her two goals in the quarter. The response from the Red Wolves was quick with Nicole Gorman – who scored her 100th career goal earlier this season – tying it up just over four minutes later. Sweeney and Olivia Hole would each score to make it 3-1 and Courtney McPhee found the back of the net with just :27 to go for a 4-1 lead.

“Everyone works so hard on this team,” said co-captain Dani DiGiacomo.

The second quarter belonged to Conard as they scored four times in the final 3:47 of the quarter to take a six-goal lead at intermission. Hole scored the first one and also the final as the horn sounded, and in between Sweeney and Caroline Cersosimo would also score.

At the break it seemed like Conard had everything going for them. “I told them at the half, players play the game but a team wins the game. Today they played like a team,” Cersosimo said.

It would take that total team effort to overcome a reinvigorated Simsbury and the loss of a key Conard player to secure the win over the final half of the game. Simsbury’s Francis would get the opener in the third when she scored off a turnover. It started in the Conard attacking zone when the Trojans’ Mason Loo forced a turnover. She grabbed the ground ball and raced into the offensive zone where she found Francis for the goal.

Once again the Red Wolves had the quick answer. This time it was Cersosimo scoring 39 seconds later on a hustle play that caught the Simsbury defense off guard. Conard had a restart behind the Simsbury net and Cersosimo grabbed the ball and raced into shooting position just off the right side of the cage and fired in the teams ninth goal.

Unfortunately for Conard that would be Cersosimo’s, and her team’s, final goal of the game with more than one-and-a-half quarters to go.

Shortly after that goal it was Maya Nanayakkara making a big save in net for Conard, but at 6:29 Charlotte Diviney scored her first of the game to cut the deficit to five. A little over a minute later, Loo picked up her only goal of the game and that six-goal lead for Conard was now just four.

Just when it seemed that Conard needed a pick-me-up, they instead got a kick in the teeth. Cersosimo received her second yellow card of the game with 3:09 to go and that meant she was out of the game. Not only did Conard lose a goal-scoring weapon, but they also lost one half of what had been a great draw combination with her and Sweeney.

“She (Cersosimo) is such a big part of the team,” said DiGiacomo. “We lost players at times over the season and there has always been everyone just picks up their game.”

It would be the “team” mentality that would fill the gap and help Conard. “Maddy (Sweeney), CC (Cersosimo) and (Jacqueline) Capone were a great combination for us, and Olivia Hole stepped right in for us,” said Cersosimo – who is not only the coach, but also mother of Caroline Cersosimo.

Ninety seconds into the final period it was Diviney beating Nanayakkara off the free position when she went low to the far side. At that point coach Cersosimo decided to make a defensive change and moved McPhee to mark Diviney one-on-one the rest of the game.

“She (Diviney) is such a good player and Courtney marked her and shut her down,” the coach said. With just under seven minutes to go, Nanayakkara made another stop off the free position shot – this time with her mask – and recovered the rebound. But the officials blew the whistle on Conard and awarded the ball back to Simsbury. The Red Wolves defense made the stop and continued to hold the line with just the two-goal lead. “They were possessing and possessing for long periods, but our defense held them shot-less for long periods,” Cersosimo said.

The outcome of the game was still very much in doubt when Nanayakkara made a save at 3:44 of the fourth. At that moment, more than any other in the game, Conard showed just how important the teamwork that had built all season was.

Annabel Tracy took possession of the rebound and raced along the far sideline with three Simsbury players in pursuit. She raced past them and didn’t stop till she reached the area behind the Trojans’ net.

At that point, Conard did its best Harlem Globetrotters offense or UNC four-corners impression: For the next 3:32 the Red Wolves passed, dodged, carried the ball, and generally frustrated the Simsbury defense which could not manage to get the ball back. Conard was never going to take a shot – up two with possession – and it was McPhee carrying the load and the ball for long stretches along with her teammates.

With :12 to play, Simsbury finally forced a turnover and raced towards the Red Wolves’ net. But they never got a shot off as Gorman turned up the defense and kept the Trojans from every getting a shot off.

“Everyone being so close makes talking so easy,” said Sweeney of her team. Her sentiment was echoed by her head coach who has had the chance to watch and coach many of the players on the team through youth lacrosse right up to varsity. “I knew this team was going to be special,” said Cersosimo. “I have known some of these kids since kindergarten and I know how special this group was.”

It was 2004 when the Conard girls lacrosse team last captured the CCC tournament title. Their next step now is a return to the state Class LL tournament for a second straight year.

While the official CIAC pairings do not come out until Thursday, Conard believes it will be playing Southington at home to open things, possibly this weekend. The Red Wolves won the only matchup of the season between the two, 11-5.

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