Lady Bobcats Get Big Win On Senior Night

The Brookfield (13-3, 10-2) girls lacrosse team had plenty of reasons to be hyped up for their home game against Pomperaug (9-6-1, 9-4-1) Wednesday night.  The underclassmen wanted to thank their senior teammates and send them off with a win on their special night and the seniors wanted to cap the senior night festivities with a victory. 

Perhaps more importantly the team wanted to finish the regular season strong and clinch the number two seed in the South-West Conference (SWC) playoffs.  The girls were able to contain their emotions and use their intensity to run out to a big 14-5 first half lead en route to an impressive 23-15 win.

"All the girls were so pumped, so anxious," head coach Kary Rodgers said.  "They played well the whole game."

After falling behind 1-0 in the opening minute the Lady Bobcats went on the attack, scoring five straight goals to take control of the game.  Senior captain Alexa Foldy scored the first of her three goals to get the team on the board.  Jackie Brown, another senior captain, took a pass from Foldy for the first of her four goals on the night to finish the early game outburst and give the Lady Bobcats a 5-1 lead.

"This is my main sport so this is a major closing for me," Brown said.  "The sport has been very good to me and it's great to celebrate with these girls."

Pomperaug was able to respond to the flurry of goals by scoring three of the next four to cut the lead to 6-4, but that would be as close as they would get on the night.  Brookfield went on another run, ripping off six straight goals to take a commanding 12-4 lead.  Senior tri-captain and usual defensive leader Emily Assad finished the run by scoring a surprising goal. 

"That was really exciting," Assad said of getting in on the goal-scoring action on senior night.  "It was my first game as an attacker and I got a goal and an assist."

Pomperaug opened the second half by scoring four straight goals to cut the lead to 14-9.  Foldy and Brown ended any thoughts of a letdown by scoring back-to-back goals to regain control of the game.

"It was a great feeling," Foldy said of scoring three goals and adding five assists on senior night.  "Our team stayed intense and played smart the whole game.  We achieved our goals.  Tonight we showed a lot of progress."

Senior Caitlyn Stauffer, who has been out with an injury, was able to return and contribute a goal.  The junior goal-scoring duo of Kathryn Marron and Emily Leonard made sure the seniors would get a win by scoring five and six goals apiece.  Marron added five assists to her totals.  Junior Katie Serio added two goals.

The team now will shift focus to the SWC playoffs and the state tournament.  The Lady Bobcats start the post-season at home against Joel Barlow (7-9, 7-6) Saturday night.

"We're ready," Brown said.  "We're not losing sight of the fact that we have three weeks of games left."

The captains know the team needs to maintain the sharp focus it used to have a successful regular season now that the post-season is here.

"We need to keep the intensity about our season up at practice," Assad said.

The team has plenty of senior leadership to carry them through the post-season.  Sarah Biro, Sam Mcpadden, Chelsea Janssen and Jen Eagan anchor their defense.

"They are such a good group," Rodgers said of all her seniors.  "Honestly, in all my years as a player and coach, I've never seen such a close group.  That tightness can take them a long way.  They are all leaders." 

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