It was a tale of two similar teams on May 13. Both the Morgan and Valley girls’ lacrosse teams were in their second seasons as varsity teams and the match-up proved to be a good one. Morgan—with many of its seniors starting as freshmen on the new club team—and Valley—also progressing its players through the lacrosse program—played hard against each other and Valley stayed in the game until the second quarter when Morgan’s offense powered up, leaving the final score 15-7.

“Our girls have worked hard,” said Morgan Coach Kristy Simmons. “This is our seniors last year and they’ve started this program as freshmen on the club level, so the success they’re having is unbelievable.”

Despite the loss, Valley Coach Greg Pfaffenbichler saw many positives from his team.

“We worked hard,” said Pfaffenbichler. “I was feeling good about several things about this game, but we just couldn’t seem to stop Morgan’s offense.”

That Morgan offense struck early on in the game. Testing Valley senior goalkeeper Wendy Baier early, Morgan’s Mollie Simmons and Leah Houde each took shots which were blocked by the experienced Baier. Morgan offensive powerhouse and senior captain Cat Gordon got one around Baier four minutes into the game putting the Huskies on the scoreboard before a repeated performance a minute later to put Morgan up 2-0.

“We left Gordon wide open on several occasions when we knew she hurt us last time,” said Pfaffenbichler. “Our inability to react to what we knew they were going to do and Gordon being a good player—we certainly played into her strengths.”

Morgan’s Houde had another shot on goal before senior captain Maribeth Simmons scored with 18:12 left after cutting across goal and receiving a pass from Gordon.

Valley quickly took control of the ball with Sara Donovan sprinting downfield and passing to Julie Miezejeski, who displayed some fancy footwork for a pass to Mary McGee near the goal. Morgan’s defense temporarily took over before senior captain Rachel Harris regained control and threatened Morgan goalie Jordan Molina. Molina made a nice save on Harris’s shot before Houde took the ball downfield and passed to Gordon, who scored Morgan’s third goal with 11:48 left. Valley’s Harris took matters into her own hands, scoring Valley’s first goal of the game with 11:09 left.

“Rachel did a really good job—defensively, she was hustling back from the midfield,” said Pfaffenbichler. “I always preach that out of all my offensive players—you’re the one that if you hustle back, you’re going to pick up some ground balls, you’re going to be able to set up some doubles with the midfielders.”

Gordon scored Morgan’s fourth goal with 10:43 left before Valley’s McGee showed her speed to power past Morgan’s defense for a shot on goal that was blocked by Molina. Miezejeski scored the Warrior’s second goal after a pass from McGee with 7:55 left, followed by Harris’s goal a minute-and-a-half later to bring Valley within two goals of the Huskies.

“We played a well-coached game with very skilled players,” said Morgan Coach Tom Congdon. “Coach Greg always brings out a good team on the field and we work hard, which is something I think you have to do going against a team like this.”

Morgan scored two more goals in the first half from Simmons and Gordon, despite Valley’s defensive efforts going into halftime with the scored laid out 7-3.

Valley’s Donovan led off the second half with a shot on goal before Morgan’s Houde scored a minute into the game, followed by Julia Mathison’s goal only a minute later. Gordon then scored twice in a matter of a three-minute period and Simmons scored only seconds after that.

“We closed the game to 5-3 and I was feeling good about things,” said Pfaffenbichler. “Then the other team ran off seven in a row and it was harder for us to get that back—the first minutes of the second half have been hurting us and that’s when they really extended it.”

Both teams subsequently turned over the ball several times to each other before Morgan had three consecutive shots on goal from Katie Gosselin, Houde, and Lainey Congdon, followed by Mollie Simmons’ goal with 9:57 left.

“Kristy’s got another great team over there,” said Pfaffenbichler. “They’re a tournament team and have many skilled players. Morgan definitely had control of the game from the start with very patient offense and we panicked a couple of times and gave away some silly possessions and turnovers and not in the best of places. They got control of the ball early and a team like that who can possess and space you out offensively, you don’t want to give them anymore chances than you need to.”

Valley then went on an offensive tear with less than 10 minutes left in the game. Led off by Harris’s two laser shots on Molina, she then got one past with 7:55 left, followed by McGee’s goal seconds later.

“I thought overall the girls played well,” said Pfaffenbichler. “We just haven’t been able to put together everyone playing well individually and as a unit and that’s what we’re reaching for.”

Harris scored again within seconds before Morgan temporarily got control of the ball and faced the wrath of Valley’s defensive line, led by senior captain Caity Vomastek and Sara Conderino. Madeleine Black scored Valley’s last goal with 5:54 left before both teams fought for control of the ball and played through exhaustion. Morgan scored twice with less than 30 seconds left in the game from both Maribeth Simmons and Houde to bring the final score to 15-7 in favor of the Huskies.

“The girls have worked hard and they’ve done what we asked them to do every year,” said Congdon. “It’s exemplified on the field-the way they talk to each other and look for each other. They come ready to play and take the game to a different level.”

Morgan edged Old Lyme 15-14 on May 16. Gordon scored five goals, while Simmons and Congdon each had three and Houde and Gosselin had two each. Moline notched nine saves for the win.

The next day, Morgan continued its tear and beat Waterford 8-4. Gordon continued to produce offensively, scoring three and assisting with the remaining goals. Maribeth Simmons also scored three, while Mollie Simmons and Mathison each had one. Molina had 13 saves that game.

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