The girls lacrosse team defeated Archbishop Williams 11-10 Saturday afternoon to advance to the semifinals of the south sectional division 3 playoffs.
The number one-seeded Vineyarders came out strong, building up a 6-2 lead by the end of the first half. But the hard-fought game saw numerous penalties on the Vineyard side, adding up to four yellow cards in the first half which meant the team would have to play down a player for the entire second half.
Archbishop quickly capitalized, scoring five unanswered goals in the first five minutes of play in the second half to take the lead 7-6.
The Vineyard called a time out to regroup, and soon after play resumed Alexis Condon drew a foul and scored on a free possession to tie the game 7-7.
And with that the momentum shifted. Louise McDonald scored with an assist by Addy Hayman to make it 8-7, and then Hayman put the Vineyarders up 9-7 with a goal of her own.
With a few minutes to play the Vineyarders led 11-8, but Archbishop was ready with a momentum shift of their own, scoring two quick goals to make it 11-10 with one minute remaining.
At midfield, Hayman won the crucial draw and the Vineyarders maintained possession to run out the clock and secure the win. Amid cheers from the packed stands and on the field, Vineyard players and coaches breathed a sigh of relief.
“The girls have all the tools and they know exactly what to do in the next round,” said Lee Hayman, a former MVRHS star who currently plays for Dennison and is helping out with the team. “We are really lucky to keep playing because the competition just keeps getting better and better which is something we haven’t seen all year.”
The team plays the winner of Hanover and Sandwich on Tuesday, June 11 at a neutral site off-Island.
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