Above: The EGHS Girls LAX varsity team raises sticks one final time in the 2022 season. Submitted photo

By Tommy Sprague

On Tuesday night, the Middletown Crusaders hosted the East Greenwich Avengers in the first round of the Girls’ Division 1 lacrosse playoffs. In their regular season matchup, Middletown put numbers up quickly in the first half; this time, EG made some adjustments and started strong out of the huddle. In the first half, possession was shared with draw wins split down the middle.

East Greenwich had early success on the offensive hitting the back of the net quickly. Captain Stella Jackson had 1 goal and juniors Jeremi Morrison and Mila Navarro each got 2. The Crusaders matched EG’s efforts goal-for-goal and the score at the end of the first half was EG 5 Middletown 6. Keeper Fiona Baxter had another amazing game with critical saves to keep the team in the hunt. 

In the second half, EG stepped up their efforts on possession, winning most of the draws, but turnovers and penalties plagued the Avengers. EG managed to keep things close with Izzy Gelzhiser and Helena Dunwoody scoring 1 each and Navarro adding 2. As tensions rose and with both teams focused on advancing to the next round of the playoffs, players on both teams got yellow cards. EG found themselves down a player (or two) for roughly 8 minutes of the second half, but the defense and Baxter’s clutch saves kept the Crusader’s offensive efforts to a minimum. As the clock counted down, Middletown was ahead by 1 goal and successfully navigated EG’s defensive press, killing the final two minutes of the game. The final score was Middletown 10, East Greenwich 9. After greeting their opponents, the Avengers raised their sticks as a team one final time to end the 2022 season. 

The Avengers should be very proud of their efforts. Speaking as a fan, this team was fun to watch and even more fun to cover.

Tommy Sprague, who works for Fidelity, is a team parent. Our thanks to him for covering Girls LAX. EG News is looking for similarly motivated sports enthusiasts to help us cover other EG sports. If you are interested, contact [email protected]. It’s a lot of fun!