MONROE, CT — Possession was the name of the game for No. 1 seed Masuk High’s girls lacrosse team in a 13-9 win over No. 4 Newtown in Tuesday’s South-West Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Panthers won 19 of 24 draws behind the work of Bailey Bajda and help from Devin Kreiner, Emma Troesser and Sam Henry.
Lily Camron led the way offensively with a five-goal outburst and the Panthers advanced to face No. 3 New Fairfield in the Thursday, May 23, championship game at neutral site Newtown High starting at 7 p.m., weather permitting.
The first half ended with the teams even a 6-6. Masuk took a 10-7 lead into the fourth and added to the advantage for a 12-7 edge to pull away.
After Newtown pulled to within 8-7 Emma Troesser got possession off the ensuing draw and scored seconds later for a 9-7 lead with 1:30 left in the third quarter and Cameron added to it in the final half-minute of the stanza.
Cameron and Bajda (two goals of her own) pushed the lead to five less than 2:30 into the fourth quarter.
Sam Henry had a big goal, the 100th of her career. Charlotte Pinto scored twice and Kreiner and Sammy Sullivan also found the net. Jillian Kilcullen, Henry and Pinto had assists. Masuk goaltender Sophia Clark came up with several big stops.
Masuk Coach Rob Troesser said his team did a good job making adjustments following a 12-10 regular-season loss to Newtown, with a bit of a change in player personnel around the draw area.
“These girls have worked all year for this and they get to fight for an SWC title on Thursday,” Coach Troesser said.
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