BY GENE NARDI
On Wednesday, March 8, the Wellington High School girls lacrosse team traveled to John I. Leonard High School and rolled to a 14-2 victory over the Lancers.
The win lifted the Wolverines to a 5-4 record on the season, and they remained unbeaten at 3-0 in the district. Six different players scored for the Wolverines on the night.
Wellington stormed out in front early, notching three goals in the first two minutes of play. Ana Stowell drove in her first of five goals of the game off an Ashley Goldman assist. Nicole Wantin and Stowell added goals to give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.
The Wolverines would rack up a total of eight goals in the first half before the Lancers would put one in to close the margin slightly with 1:21 remaining on the first-half clock.
The second half started on a surprising note for the Wolverines, when the Lancers launched the first goal of the half, just 12 seconds in, to close the gap to 8-2. The goal gave the Lancers a bit of life, but it was their last goal of the night. Wellington’s defense tightened up, and denied the limited pushes that the Lancers made toward the Wolverine goal.
The Wolverines would roll for the remainder of the match, scoring six more goals to put the game out of reach. Wellington was able to pressure the Lancer goal throughout the half, making it difficult for the home team to defend.
The 14-2 win puts Wellington in the driver’s seat, earning the top seed for the district playoffs.
The top performer for Wellington was Stowell with five goals and three assists. Goldman and Summer Ryder both had hat tricks, and each had an assist. Nicole Wantlin and Madison Stout each scored a goal.
ABOVE: Wellington attacker Ana Stowell breaks through the Lancer defense and shoots at the goal.
