Lady Rebels Run By Lady Bobcats In SWC Semi-Final

The 6th seeded New Fairfield (11-6, 7-5) girls lacrosse team was riding high following their thrilling 11-10 quadruple overtime win in their quarterfinal match against 3rd seeded New Milford (11-5, 11-2) on Saturday.  They took that momentum and rode it right into the South-West Conference Finals by pulling off another upset.  This time they only needed regulation time to defeat 2nd seeded Brookfield (14-3, 10-2) 17-9.

"We played the best goalie in the conference the last two games," New Fairfield head coach Joe Robusto said in reference to New Fairfield playing New Milford in their past two games.  "Sometimes when you turn around from that the goal get's bigger." 

The Lady Rebels scored on their first shot of the game and continued to pound the net with shots from that point on.  They used their speed and a strong passing game to pressure a Lady Bobcats defense that never was able to slow down the attack.

"New Fairfield played a great game," Brookfield head coach Kary Rodgers said. 

Brookfield junior Emily Leonard tied the game at 1-1 but that would be the last time the Lady Bobcats were in contact with the Lady Rebels, who were playing in front of their home crowd at New Fairfield High School in the semi-final.

"Our kids grew up today," Robusto said.  "They played smart, made good choices."

The Lady Rebels scored the next three goals for a 4-1 lead before Brookfield senior Jackie Brown scored at 15:08 to cut the lead in half.  New Fairfield responded with two more quick goals leading to a Brookfield timeout.  Leonard cut the lead to 6-3 at 11:58 following the stoppage in play.

Again the Lady Rebels responded by ripping off the next four goals for a commanding 10-3 lead at the 6:24 mark of the first half.  Brown and Leonard scored back-to-back goals to cut the lead in half again but the Brookfield defense couldn't contain the Lady Rebels, who finished the half by scoring the final two goals for a 12-5 lead.

"Brookfield is a strong team," Robusto said.  "They have good kids and are well-coached.  They were injured and banged up all year.  I'm nothing but impressed with their program."

Besides the high-paced offense the Lady Rebels used a zone defense and strong goalie play from Charlotte Osborne to stop the Brookfield attack.

"We don't play against zone defense that much," Rodgers said.  "That affected us and their goalie was phenomenal."

Osborne was helped by the harassing pressure of her defenders, who didn't allow the Brookfield players to get into open space in front of the net.  On the occasions the Lady Bobcats broke free, Osborne stood tall.

"She has been the rock for this team for two years," Robusto said of the stellar play of his goaltender.  "If the defense makes a mistake, she bails them out."

In the second half New Fairfield slowed the tempo down but kept up its intensity.  Their offensive efficiency was high as they worked the ball around and waited for openings.  They scored two of the first three goals of the half for a 14-6 lead before Brookfield scored back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to 14-8 at the 14:56 mark. 

The Lady Rebels kept Brookfield from getting any closer by controlling possession and scoring the next three goals for a 17-8 lead at 4:04.  Lady Bobcats junior Kathryn Marron scored her second goal of the game at 1:12 to close out the scoring.  Brown finished with four goals and Leonard had three.

The sophomore-scoring trio of Morgan Labarbara, Tara Donovan and Carly Hopkins led New Fairfield.  Labarbara had six goals while Donovan and Hopkins had four apiece.

While New Fairfield moves onto the SWC Finals, Brookfield will regroup and set their sights on the state tournament that begins next week.

"We're looking forward to states," Rodgers said.  "We're not the type to dwell, we're all about going out and having fun playing the game."

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