MONROE, Conn. — Down a player for half of the game, Masuk High’s girls lacrosse team found a way to prevail in the South-West Conference Tournament semifinals at home on Thursday. The No. 2 Panthers jumped out to a 6-0 lead and pulled away late for a 12-6 win over No. 3 Newtown.
The Panthers will take on top seed and defending champion New Fairfield in the title game at Western Connecticut State University Tuesday, May 26, at 7 p.m.
Masuk avenged an 8-6 regular-season loss to Newtown on May 14 behind some adjustments on offensive positioning.
“Today (Thursday) it was more us making offensive changes to what they had defensively,” Masuk Coach Rob Troesser said.
Masuk had four yellow cards and two on standout defender Abby Troesser, leaving the Panthers shorthanded by one player for much of the afternoon.
“They realized we needed to get into a mindset of playing for someone else,” said Troesser, adding that Maya Tomaszewski and Emme Walsh stepped up on the defensive side and Bailey Bajda, Victoria Grychak and Molly Kinahan all made key contributions on offense.
Bajda led the offense with six goals and came up with a key interception in the fourth quarter to help the Panthers pull away after seeing their lead whittled down to two at 8-6 through three quarters.
Charlotte Pinto scored twice and came up big with five draw controls, Clare Fulchino had a goal and an assist, and Emma Troesser and Ella Sancimino also found the back of the net.
Goaltender Maddie Farrer had eight saves and came up with an interception of a pass in the second half to help fend off NHS.
Bajda was on fire in the first half with five goals as the Panthers built an 8-3 lead heading into the break. The lead was trimmed to 8-6 before Pinto scored early in the fourth and the Panthers added to their lead in transition.
Farrer picked off a pass which led to Bajda finding Sancimino for a 10-6 lead with 9:11 to go. After a Farrer save, Bajda scored with 6:37 left and, following a Bajda pick, Grychak finished off the scoring with 2:54 left.
The Panthers edged New Fairfield 10-9 in an early-season thriller, handing the Rebels their only SWC defeat this spring. Both teams have the state playoffs to look forward to following their title matchup.
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