Ellington girls lacrosse senior Murphy joins the 100-goal club

May 18—VERNON — When Taylor Murphy scored her second goal in the Ellington High girls lacrosse team's 15-0 victory over NCCC foe Rockville Tuesday night, celebrations ensued.

The senior attacker had just reached the 100-career goal milestone.

"It was really exciting, especially because I wasn't really prepared for it, like I wasn't counting them down," Murphy said. "It's a big accomplishment knowing that I've been working towards doing this for so long.

"I've worked my whole life at this sport. So this last run has really meant a lot."

But instead of partying like it was 1999, the Knights (11-3) celebrated like it was May 2. That's the last time an Ellington player reached the mark: Murphy's classmate Anna Bocchino.

Perhaps it's fitting then that a pass from Bocchino led to Murphy hitting the mark.

"We've been playing together for the last 10 years," Murphy said. "So spending that moment together makes it a lot better."

Murphy entered Tuesday with 98 goals. She opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game and reached the milestone 4:11 later on a fast break following a pass from Bocchino to make it 6-0.

"To see your teammates be able to accomplish all these goals that they've set for themselves, I think it's huge," Bocchino said.

Bocchino, a midfielder, reached the milestone herself with a hat trick in a 12-3 win over the Rams May 2. Though she said it was a slightly different feeling watching her teammate achieve the milestone, Bocchino couldn't be prouder of her classmate.

"We've been playing together forever," Bocchino said. "So just knowing that we've been through it all together and we're both here now, I think it's just really good to have somebody be there with you through it all."

Murphy has 25 goals this season. Her three assists Tuesday give her a team-high 29 on the year. Bocchino, who tallied five goals and an assist in the win, has 59 goals this year and 124 in her career.

Both players agreed that having someone else on the team that can score has been beneficial for them all season and throughout their three seasons with the Knights.

"The team works a lot better together because you know you have multiple assets and a lot of girls accomplishing the same thing," Murphy said. "You can really rely on each other."

Seeing both players reach 100 goals has been a joy for first-year coach Bill Kozik.

"I've been coaching them since they were in fifth grade," he said. "It just shows that they really excel and they love this sport, which is key to doing well."

Murphy will attend UConn next year where she hopes to play club lacrosse while Bocchino will continue her career at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida.

Once they depart, Kozik will have to figure out how to replace the bulk of his offense.

"We're working on it," Kozik said. "We're working on it very hard."

Kaitlyn Boone finished with three goals and an assist for the Knights, who led 10-0 at the half Tuesday. Midori Cannon, Katie Hurlburt, Hannah Kozik, Kelsey Harnois and Cecelia Nelson all had single goals.

"They really worked well today," Bill Kozik said. "They communicated well defensively. Offensively they were moving the ball. It's always nice when everyone is scoring."

Ali Kozik finished with six saves in the win while Mandi Rivard stopped eight shots for Rockville (2-13).

Ellington concludes its regular season at RHAM Thursday. Meanwhile, Rockville hosts Valley Regional in its regular season finale Friday.

"Thursday at practice we'll kind of go over some things that we need to work on," Rockville coach Sarah Roos said. "We'll practice those things and then give it our all in our last game for the seniors on senior night."

S. WINDSOR 11, SOUTHINGTON 10 (OT). Freshman Hailey Deptula scored the overtime winner as host South Windsor won a CCC North game.

Lily Doran's goal with 1:06 left in regulation put the Blue Knights (10-4) up 10-9. But Iona College-bound Mailya Haddock tied it for the Bobcats (11-1) with 36 seconds left, setting the stage for Deptula's heroics.

Southington led 6-3 at the half before South Windsor scored four goals in the first five minutes of the second to regain the lead.

Deptula and Haddock each finished with four goals and an assist. Mady Syme had two goals and an assist while Kayden Burke had a goal and two assists. Doran and Aria Mullins each had three goals for Southington.

Ciara Styles made seven saves in the win while Eliza Vecchio stopped five shots.

The Bobcats are at Glastonbury Friday.

EAST CATHOLIC 13, RHAM 12. Mallory Bartlett scored five goals and added five assists to lead host East Catholic to a CCC Central win.

Xamadhi Quinones added three goals and two assists for the Eagles (6-6-1). Marissa Pintham had two goals while Shannon Splain Meghan Croyle and Olivia Lonski each scored once. Maren Riley made eight saves.

Joelle Goralnik paced the Raptors (4-10-0) with four goals. Ciara Murray, Maggie Walker and Grace Schadtle each scored twice. Diana Zito and Maggie Graves had a goal apiece, with Zito adding five assists. Love Lanzuella stopped five shots.

RHAM is at Northwest Catholic today while East Catholic hosts West Springfield (Massachusetts) Thursday.

Boys

SOMERS 17, SUFFIELD 16. Cooper Leonard's hat trick lifted visiting Somers to a NCCC win.

Tait Gaudet, Ryan Symington, Kalvin long and Kyle Provencher each scored twice for the Spartans (11-4). Goalie Manny Davis made six saves.

Somers concludes its regular season at Tolland today. Suffield (0-14) hosts Granby Thursday.

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