Girls lacrosse: Wilton outlasts North Shore in overtime

Makenna Pearsall’s goal early in overtime proved to be the difference, giving the Wilton High girls lacrosse team an 8-7 win over North Shore, L.I., on Saturday at Kristine Lilly Field. It was the sixth win in a row for the Warriors, who improved to 8-3. The game was tied at halftime, 4-4, and tied three times in the second half. Wilton had plenty of chances to pull out the game in regulation, but North Shore goalie Sam Capobianco made four second-half saves and the Warriors missed on two other free position chances. North Shore (7-5) took a 7-6 lead with 11:23 left on a free position goal by Janelli Carlee, and had the ball again with a chance to make it a two-goal game. But Wilton defender Maddie Duffy forced a turnover and Wilton took the ball the other way and tied up the game on a beautiful spin move and shot by Laine Parsons with 8:08 left. Wilton had a couple of shots to take the lead that went wide, and with 3:43 left Capobianco made a point-blank save on Paisley Eagan. The Vikings then held the ball for the final three-plus minutes but couldn’t get an open shot against the Wilton defense of Duffy, Casey Tucker, Campbell Gulbin, Sydney Brandt, Parsons, Pearsall and Eagan. Wilton goalie Olivia Phelan blocked a shot in the final second, her third save of the second half, to send the game to overtime. Parsons got the draw control ball to open the first three-minute overtime period, and Pearsall scored on the run after beating a defender to make it 8-7 just 31 seconds in. Wilton won the next draw, but Pearsall was denied at close range by Capobianco. North Shore didn’t get off a shot in the first overtime In the second overtime, Carlee got the draw control for the Vikings, whose bid to tie the game was thwarted when Phelan made a foot save on a free-position shot by Alex Cantwell with 1:43 left to play. After a North Shore turnover, the Warriors were able to run out the clock. Parsons and Sara Dickinson each had three goals for Wilton, with Pearsall and Eva Greco each scoring one goal. Pearsall, Dickinson and Greco each had an assist. Phelan finished with six saves in goal. “We’ve had this game marked on our calendar. We were really ready to play it, and we worked really hard this week to prepare for it, and I think it showed today,” said Head Coach Meredith Meyran. “We were evenly matched the whole way through. I think for both teams the senior leaders really stepped up and I was really proud especially of Laine, Sara, Makenna and our goalie Olivia Phelan, who’s a junior. Those guys really stood out and made a difference.” The win marked the second Saturday in a row Wilton had beaten a strong Long Island opponent, after last week’s 8-6 win at Northport. Meyran said the way the Warriors won against North Shore would help Wilton down the road. “In terms of being able to bounce back, re-get a tie, have a defensive stand, win in overtime, thoseare all really valuable lessons that you can’t teach in practice,” she said. “Defensively, I think we played great as a unit today. Everybody played together, there was a lot of communication and everybody supported Liv in the goal. Carlee led North Shore with three goals, while Cantwell had two goals and Selena Fortich and Kelly Johansen each had one goal. Capobianco finished with eight saves. Notes: Pearsall had seven draw controls, while Parsons had four. Greco and Eagan each had one draw control. Pearsall also led the Warriors with seven groundballs, followed by Eagan with four, Greco and Tucker with two each, and Parsons and Lilla Seymour with one each. Tucker and Pearsall each had three caused turnovers, with one each by Greco and Duffy. Dickinson had an interception. North Shore’s other four losses have come to Manhasset, Cold Spring Harbor, Wantagh and Garden City, teams with a combined record of 49-7.

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