KP Girls Lacrosse Team Takes Loss in State Tournament

In the first game of the Division 1 South  tournament,  ran out the stops and beat , 18-12.

Mansfield kept the lead the entire game, drawing first blood in the first minute of the game. Mansfield kept up their scoring, hitting four goals in six minutes of the first half. KP responded, but could not get any momentum and only scored five goals in the first half.

Mansfield kept up the pressure and continued to outscore KP, leading 12-5 in the first half. Team Captain Jessica Verbic scored more than five goals in the first half alone, but coach Shannon Manning said that the defense was the crucial aspect of their game.

"We worked on [defense] a lot last night and they were just unbelievable today," she said. " The defense won the game for us."

The Warriors beat the Hornets in the first match the teams played in the regular season, but Mansfield was able to rally in the next game and .

The Warriors struck back in the second half, and only gave up three goals in the first 13 minutes of the half. KP scored six goals in that time, making the score 15-11 Mansfield at 12:30,  but they could not catch up in time.  After 12:30, Mansfield started scoring again and KP only had one goal while the Hornets took three.

Verbic scored with less than a minute remaining, firmly cementing their lead and sealing the Warriors' fate. The final score was 18-12.

"We were struggling with getting ground balls and Mansfield did a good job getting possession on the draw," said KP Head Coach Julie Pasquantonio. "That can set the pace of the game."

Mansfield Team Captain Jessica Verbic scored seven goals during the game. Kiel Anderson had two goals with two assists, Kathryn Campbell scored six goals, Paige Harrington had two and Katherine Nash scored once.

King Philip's Nicole Reily and Olivia Fair both had four goals each. Alicia Cuoco had two,  and Jenna Liljeberg scored once.

Mansfield will move on to the next round of the tournament.