The Groton-Dunstable Crusaders pounded the Bromfield girls lacrosse team Saturday afternoon, June 10, 15–4, at Shepherd Hill Regional High School, in Dudley, ending the Trojans’ quest for a Central/West Division 2 district title.
The playoff pitted an older, experienced Groton-Dunstable team against a Bromfield squad full of talented underclassmen. “Experience is the best teacher,” said Coach David Planchet after the game. He noted that while Bromfield’s starting lineup was filled with eighth- and ninth-grade players, Groton’s was dominated by juniors and seniors on a team that has won the Central/West Division 2 title for the past two years.
Captain Kaeli Armstrong blows by her competitors in the District semifinal against Littleton, June 8. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The Crusaders quickly scored three goals in the opening minutes of the game, answered moments later by two unassisted scores by eighth-grader Izzy Planchet. But Groton-Dunstable dominated the rest of the half, adding seven more goals to lead 10–2 as the remaining minutes ticked away. In the second half senior Kaeli Armstrong scored a third goal for Bromfield with an assist from senior Meaghan Parlee, and junior Chandler Farley added another in the final moments of the game. But by then the Crusaders had scored five more goals of their own to assure their victory.
Although the Trojans and Crusaders were equally effective at winning draws and recovering ground balls, the Bromfield girls were plagued by 14 turnovers; Groton-Dunstable had just five. The Crusaders had nearly twice the number of shots on goal as Bromfield (27–15), and the team’s playmaking prowess, led by Crusader senior Sophia Irby, could be seen in its tally of assisted goals: 10 for Groton-Dunstable; one for Bromfield.
“I think this is the best team we’ve played … in the last four years,” Planchet later told the Press, but he added that the girls should be proud of having made it to the district finals. “There will be many … positive years for them in the future.”
Groton-Dunstable Coach Sarah Valacer had praise for the Bromfield team as well: “We’re always excited to be playing [Bromfield], and we never know what to expect. They can come back from a large deficit, and it’s always exciting, always good lacrosse.”
Of the 18 players on Bromfield’s roster this year, two will be saying goodbye: seniors Kaeli Armstrong and Meaghan Parlee. Returning for the 2018 season will be juniors Anita Childers, Chandler Farley, and goalie Emily Podgorni, as well as a host of underclassmen. This is also the last year Bromfield will face the Crusaders in the MIAA Division 2 Central/West finals. Next year both Littleton and Groton-Dunstable will move to Division 2 East, postponing any Bromfield showdown with either team until the Division 2 state playoffs.
