WORTON — While the Trojans could never completely shake their guests from Cambridge-South Dorchester, they were never really in danger of losing their playoff game here Friday night.
Freshman attacker Keelyn Clayton scored five goals and Liza Loller, Abby Gallo [one assist} and Mary Jane Joiner [one assist] each found the back of the net twice as No. 1 seed Kent County eliminated No. 4 seed Cambridge, 11-6, in the semifinal round of the Class 1A East II Region lacrosse tournament.
Joiner’s goal off a pass from Jane Cleary with 3 minutes, 41 seconds elapsed broke a 1-1 tie, and the Trojans [7-5] led the rest of the way.
Joiner scored her two goals in the span of 1:56 and then Gallo scored her two goals in succession, both on free position opportunities, for a 4-1 lead with 9:39 elapsed.
Then Clayton asserted herself.
After intercepting the goalie’s clearing attempt, left-handed Clayton whipped a shot that could not be stopped to punctuate the Trojans’ decisive run of four unanswered goals.
Karolina Weber, whose early goal knotted the score at 1-all, capitalized on a free position with 40.7 seconds to play in the opening frame to interrupt the Trojans’ attack.
Clayton, from Gallo, restored Kent County’s four-goal lead, 6-2, with 3:19 remaining in the half.
Weber netted her third goal of the game three minutes later, and it seemed as if the underdog Vikings [2-10] would head into the break with momentum as their ally.
But KCHS won the ensuing draw and Joiner quickly moved the ball down the field to find Loller, who with 7.8 seconds on the clock found the back of the net for another four-goal cushion, 7-3.
Loller would continue to play a huge role for the Trojans, pivoting from attack to midfield in the second half when a teammate was sent out for the remainder of the game after being issued a second yellow card.
In the second half, the closest that Cambridge would get was 7-4 on Katie Wheatley’s man-up goal with 4:40 elapsed.
Clayton’s goal on a free position three minutes later doubled the locals’ advantage, and by the end of the third quarter they had taken a 9-4 lead.
Clayton and Weber traded goals in the final frame.
Kent took its largest lead at 10-4 with 11:17 to play when Clayton, on a free position, bounced a shot that hit the inside of the crossbar.
Weber scored twice in the span of 52 seconds to trim the deficit to 10-6 with 9:45 remaining, but Kent County’s defense anchored by Tess Fuchs and lacrosse novice Aiyanna Copper in the goal pitched a shutout the rest of the way to quash the rally.
For good measure, Clayton tacked on an insurance goal at the 2:24 mark, chasing down a ground ball near the left sideline and running to the edge of the circle before depositing her career-high fifth goal of the game.
Kent County’s first-year head coach Jim Egan said ball control — the Trojans won 12 of 17 draws — and taking time off the clock were key.
“We had possession a lot,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday, on the eve of the region championship game.
Egan gave a shout-out to the Trojans’ defense and Copper [four saves], who stepped in as goalie when starter Abigail Strayer suffered a season-ending hand injury April 22 in the game against Kent Island.
While she is new to lacrosse, Copper knows how to protect the house. She was the goalie on Kent County’s region championship field hockey team in the fall.
“She [Copper] played great D and cleared the ball several times in a crunch,” Egan said in a text message.
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Kent County will host No. 2 seed Elkton on Monday, May 11 for the region title. The opening draw is at 4:30 p.m.
Admission is $6 for adults and students; there is no cost for anyone 6 and younger.
Elkton [5-8] advanced after eliminating No. 3 seed Bo Manor, 13-6, in Friday’s other semifinal.
