Ellington girls lacrosse falls to Canton in OT in NCCC final

Kyle Maher, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read

May 27—CANTON — Ellington girls lacrosse coach Bill Kozik sprung into action as soon as Canton junior Gabriella DelSanto prepared to attack the goal from 10 yards out in the waning seconds of overtime in the teams' NCCC tournament championship game Thursday.

Kozik called for three Knights defenders to surround the Warriors' star and block her path to the goal.

It didn't make a difference.

DelSanto slithered through the Knights defense and fired the ball past goalie Ali Kozik from point-blank range with 1.7 seconds remaining to lead the No. 3 seed Warriors to an 8-7 overtime victory over top-seeded Ellington on its home field.

"She's clutch," Canton coach Sean Cole said. "She's not 100 percent healthy but she's a fighter. And she's only a junior. Her strength will get better, her conditioning will improve. The sky is the limit for her."

The Warriors have won each of the last five NCCC tournament titles. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a year ago, the NCCC schools played in the Central Connecticut Conference.

DelSanto and Ellie Bahre scored three goals apiece to pace Cantons (13-5). Mary DeRitis and Avery Brown added one goal apiece. Goalie Ava Dakin made five saves.

Megan Johndrow and Kelsey Harnois had two goals apiece for the Knights (12-4). Anna Bocchino, Taylor Murphy, and Katie Hurlburt added one goal apiece. Kozik made seven saves.

Both teams will return to action Tuesday in the opening round of the state tournament. Ellington, the No. 6 seed in the Class M bracket, will host the winner of the qualifying game between No. 11 Joel Barlow and No. 22 Berlin.

"We're looking at who we might play and we're excited about playing them," Coach Kozik said. "We're new to Class M this year, so new schools we're not used to seeing. We're anticipating some good games."

Canton, the No. 8 seed in the Class S bracket, will host 9 Bacon Academy.

Murphy scored with nine seconds left in the first half to give Ellington a 4-2 lead at the break and Hurlburt found the back of the net to give the Knights a 7-5 advantage with 12:41 remaining.

Brown cut the Warriors' deficit to one with 10:14 left. After holding the Knights scoreless on their next two possessions, DeRitis hit the back of the net to tie the score at seven with 4:18 remaining.

Ellington turned the ball over with 18 seconds left, giving Canton one last possession in regulation, but the Warriors failed to score and the game went into a three-minute sudden-death overtime period.

Ellington was awarded a free position attempt from eight yards out after a Canton penalty with just over a minute to play but Kaitlyn Boone's shot deflected off Dakin's stick and over the crossbar.

The Warriors were awarded possession and burned time off the clock, holding for the last shot of the game.

"Our goalie made a terrific save there to give us a chance." Cole said. "I told them, 'let's eat the ball until about 20 seconds and then let's get to cage.' We had multiple options, but once Gabby had it, I told her, 'take it.'"

As the clock ticked down under 20 seconds, DelSanto received the ball on the right wing and went to work.

"We were prepared for her, but she kept at it," Kozik said. "We were getting a lot of penalties inside the eight and if we got a penalty there, it was going to be a free position shot. So we told them, 'don't play as aggressive, because you might get called.' We didn't get called but she got the shot off."

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