EAST SANDWICH – Down 7-5 with 6:06 left in the first half, the Nauset Regional High School girls’ lacrosse team had mustered up nearly every last ounce of energy it had but host Sandwich High proved to be too much as the Lady Knights rebuilt their lead to 10-5 at the half and ended with a 14-9 victory.
Nauset Regional High’s Tess Ropulewis (3) and Sandwich High’s Caroline McKenna battle for draw control in the Lady Knight’s 14-9 tourney win Tuesday afternoon.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
The loss ended Nauset’s season at 14-7 in the first round of the MIAA Division 1 South Sectionals while the win for the Lady Knights (11-6-1) propelled them to the Division 1 South Sectional quarterfinals on Friday at Needham High at 3:00 pm.
Rae LaRochelle proved the tempo-setter for the Lady Knights’ success as she scored the game’s first goal just over two minutes into the first half and tacked on three more – two more in the first, one more in the second half – to pace the Knights’ offense. Teammate and Knights’ center Caroline McKenna was equally formidable on draw control and added three markers to go along with one assist.
Nauset’s Sam Berry, the Warriors’ first attacker, in essence quarterbacked the Black & Gold offense and poured in four goals to go along with two assists, but the aggressive Sandwich defense made it somewhat difficult to penetrate the crease.
Sarah Wardlaw, Mackenzie Meads, Tess Ropulewis, Caley Fry and Tanner Deegan all put in individual goals for the Warriors.
Sam Gorrasi, Hailee Steele and Carly Whittle each notched a pair of goals for the Lady Knights and Beth McEntee had one.
It was the late, first-half scoring binge that the Lady Knights turned on – led by LaRochelle – that ultimately spelled the end of the season for Nauset as the second half was a 4-4 draw. McKenna’s final two scores were just icing on the cake for the Lady Knights and ensured that any hope for a Warrior comeback would not gain momentum.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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