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    Tuesday, November 05, 2024

    Momentum shift favors the Vikings, who top Bears 3-2 for ECC field hockey title

    East Lyme’s Lily Gibson (13) attempts to block the ball against the pass by Old Saybrook’s Lila Cadley during a field hockey game on Oct. 12 at East Lyme High School. (Dana Jensen/The Day)
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    Stonington — Momentum is a finicky thing.

    The Stonington High School field hockey team owned the momentum for an entire unbeaten Eastern Connecticut Conference regular season, through two wins over rival East Lyme, including one a week ago in overtime.

    Only then things swung East Lyme’s way in Tuesday night’s ECC tournament championship, just for a little bit. A goal. A glimmer of hope after what had been a two-goal deficit against the defending champion Bears. And once that happened there was no stopping the Vikings, who scored three goals in the final 8 minutes, 38 seconds, for a 3-2 victory.

    “I think I can speak for the whole team and say that the pressure is on,” said East Lyme senior forward Lily Gibson, gripping the championship plaque as she spoke. “I mean, we really needed to do something if we wanted to win.

    “I can say for all the seniors, it’s our senior year, we’ve been trying to beat them. It feels really good. Once we had halftime, we had to settle ourselves back down a little bit, go back to the basics, start smart-passing, just taking it down a notch, reeling it back in and really just playing how we know how to play.”

    Stonington (15-2-1) took a 1-0 lead in the third quarter on a goal by Marina Lewandowski off what was the Bears’ 10th penalty corner of the game.

    Near the start of the fourth quarter, Stonington’s Anna Lettiere fired a shot off East Lyme goalie Emma Van Dusen, but shortly thereafter Lettiere got the ball back and capitalized to make it 2-0.

    That was against a high-scoring East Lyme team (14-4) which defeated Fitch 4-0 in the tournament semifinals and had piled up 40 goals in its last eight games, with four or more goals in seven of the eight.

    “I knew they were a strong team,” Stonington coach Jenna Tucchio said. “Based on what their capabilities are and the talent that they have, it was within their ability to do that. When they tied it 2-2, they were going.

    “It was very hard to contain Gracie (Lloyd, the ECC Player of the Year from East Lyme) moving the ball. She never stopped. She just kept going forward, going forward, going forward. ... They took advantage of a great shift in momentum and left us scrambling. That was a position we’re not used to being in.”

    Kate Erikson scored for East Lyme with 8:38 remaining on an assist by Sophia Gibson. With 2:31 to play, the Vikings tied it when Lily Gibson scored off an assist by Mia Lloyd. Thirty-six seconds later, Lily Gibson struck again.

    “I was just thinking we really need to score if we want to not go into overtime and have to play even more,” Lily Gibson said.

    Gibson said she lifted the third goal into the cage.

    East Lyme head coach Laura Mackey was an assistant for last year’s team which fell to Stonington 3-1 in the ECC title game. Mackey took over the top spot this season, but credits an entire staff of coaches for the Vikings’ success. Assistants Katie Durkee, Daven Roberts, Amy Lloyd, Julie Horner and Caroline Regan are all alums of the program, as is Mackey, who graduated from East Lyme in 1981.

    “It’s an honor to coach with them all, all very knowledgeable. It was awesome. A great group of women to work with,” Mackey said.

    “... I think after the first goal they knew they could go get it. They showed us exactly the type of team that they are. They came back and took the title. It took the fourth quarter and they got out of their own heads and realized they could play.”

    East Lyme defensive back Callan Keefe earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player honor.

    v.fulkerson@theday.com

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