The Staples girls’ lacrosse team earned themselves an 11-8 win at a wet Ginny Parker field on Monday, June 1 in the first round of States. Coming off a loss to Fairfield Warde in last year’s state tournament, the Wreckers started this game strong scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes.

“I think we came out very excited and played very well the first half,” said goalie Emma Boland ’15. “We were placing our shots and being smart with the ball.”

Despite Staples early lead, Warde held long periods of possession and tested Wrecker goalie Boland consistently throughout most of the half. However, in the last 2:12 of the first half and the first 30 seconds of the second, Staples started to assert its dominance on the field, scoring 5 straight goals, unanswered by Fairfield Warde. The once small Wrecker lead of 4-2, was elevated as staples brought the score to 8-2 at the half, with four goals by captain Paige Murray ’15, three by captain Jenna McNicholas ’15 and one by Colleen Bannon ’17. The Staples goal at the start of the second half offered staples a 7 goal cushion over Warde.

However, Warde was not to be discouraged and reciprocated with a four goal streak, bringing the score within a close three points.

A save by Boland transferred the ball to Westport possession and a good fight by the Wreckers resulted in a goal by Bannon, bringing the score to 10-6. The underclassman continued to their strong play with a goal by freshman Megan Johnson ’18.

After a timeout, Warde scored two goals within a minute to make the score 11-8. While Warde got one more possession during the game, they couldn’t capitalize and a turnover gave Staples the ball back to keep possession and run out the clock, ending the game with the score of 11-8 Staples.

“I felt that the game went well we all wanted to win and we achieved that however we let up in the second half,” said Murray. “Sometimes I think we allow ourselves to back off a little when we are in the lead which lead to a close game in the end.”

With a tournament win under their sticks, Staples lacrosse plays their next game to continue to advance in the state tournament against the Darien Blue Wave on Thursday June 4 at 4 p.m. in Darien.