St. Dominic Academy’s Caroline Gastonguay, right, makes a pass while Maine Girls’ Academy’s Clairette Kirezi looks for the ball’s intended target during the Saints’ win in a Class C girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal in Auburn on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
AUBURN — Despite leading by seven at halftime, St. Dominic Academy wasn’t happy with how it was playing on offense against Maine Girls’ Academy.
The Saints’ attack was on-point to start the second half, scoring six goals in the first five minutes — all assisted by Caroline Gastonguay — to pull away for a 20-4 win in a Class C girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal on Friday.
“We were able to slow it down and run our offenses, and do patient, accurate passes and shots,” Saints coach Leslie Klenk said. “Whereas in the first half we were rushing and we weren’t playing with the patience that we want to play with.”
The seventh-seeded Lions (5-8) struck first when Catherine Reid took the opening draw and scored nine seconds in, but the second-seeded Saints (10-3) answered right back when Gastonguay fed Avery Lutrzykowski 12 seconds later.
Gastonguay fed younger sister Charlotte for another goal before the first minute of the game elapsed and the Saints never looked back. Caroline Gastonguay, a senior, notched 12 assists and added three goals. Charlotte Gastonguay, a freshman, scored a game-high six goals.
“I wish she was a little bit older so we had a few more years together, but we practice all the time, so we know where exactly where each other are every single minute,” Caroline Gastonguay said.
Lutrzykowski scored again, and Gastonguay assisted on Emma Theriault’s first goal to give the Saints a 4-1 lead before Reid scored again off a ground ball.
“We knew what we were up against, certainly,” Lions coach Eric Wales said. “We see the scores.”
Caroline Gastonguay scored her first goal to start a 5-0 run for the Saints before Reid scored again in transition with just over a minute left in the first half. Gastonguay scored at the buzzer to make it 10-3 at halftime.
“At halftime we kind of came in, we were like, ‘Look, this isn’t how we play,’ because we turned it over a bunch of times in the first half, and we were like, ‘We can’t turn it over anymore, we have to play a clean, solid second half to pull it out.’ Because anything can happen, any team can come out on top, especially if you lay low in the second half,” Gastonguay said.
Gastonguay fed her sister 49 seconds into the second half to get the offense going again.
“Sure the offense is tough. I mean, we saw that the beginning of the game,” Wales said.
The Saints scored the first eight goals of the half before Reid scored again for her fourth goal.
“She’s fast. But I think in the second half we really contained her,” Klenk said. “Our ride from our offensive end to the defensive end really was working, which prevented her from really breaking through.”
Lutrzykowski and Theriault matched Caroline Gastonguay with three goals each, while Mia-Angeline Leslie had two. Theriault added two assists, while Lutrzykowski had one. Gigi Ouellette had a goal and an assist.
Lily LaCasse made seven saves for the Lions, while Simone Long had three for St. Dom’s.
The Saints now advance to the state semifinals, where they will face No. 6 Erskine Academy, which upset previously-undefeated Winslow in the quarterfinals.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
St. Dominic Academy’s Avery Lutrzykowski out-leaps Maine Girls’ Academy’s Catherine Reid, left, and Sophia DiPhillipo for a draw during the Saints’ win in a Class C girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal in Auburn on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)St. Dominic Academy’s Avery Lutrzykowski gets a shot off between Maine Girls’ Academy’s Hope Olson, left, and Clairette Kirezi for a draw during the Saints’ win in a Class C girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal in Auburn on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
St. Dominic Academy’s Caroline Gastonguay, left, sets her eys on the goal while Maine Girls’ Academy’s Meghan Smith (13) looks to get in the way during the Saints’ win in a Class C girls’ lacrosse quarterfinal in Auburn on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
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