EASTHAM — Thanks to clutch fourth-quarter goaltending by Norah Swanson and timely draw controls by Julia Kipperman, the Nauset girls lacrosse team posted a comeback 15-14 victory over Mansfield on April 22. It was the Warriors’ first home win of the season and broke a three-game losing streak; the team now has a 2-4 record.
Midfielders Zoe Labdon and Julia Kipperman carried the offensive load as usual, with Labdon finishing the day with seven goals and one assist alongside Kipperman’s six goals and three assists.
The goals came in bursts, as Nauset scored four in a three-minute span at the end of the first period to take a 4-1 lead. After a brief Mansfield run, the teams traded goals in the second quarter, with Kipperman ending the scoring to make it 7-6 Nauset heading into the break.
Nauset used draw dominance to score five of the first six third-period goals and jumped out to their biggest lead of the game, 12-7. Mansfield seemed to make a draw adjustment and went on to score six consecutive times, however — retaking the lead they had lost in the first quarter.
Cleo Donovan tallied on a nice feed from Megan Sullivan to bring Nauset even early in the fourth. That seemed to wake up the Warriors as the draw came their way again, enabling Labdon to put Nauset back in the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
While Kipperman and Labdon were leading the offensive heroics, Swanson and her defense were bending but not breaking. Swanson notched a ridiculous 16 saves in the game, many of them sensational. “I am very proud of her,” said Nauset Coach Heather Stevens. “She was definitely solid in goal, and Zoe and Kip led the way on the offense.”
Maddie Coccoro also made a difference on defense, Stevens said. “I was getting kind of nervous at the end,” said Coccoro, a sophomore from East Orleans, “but I knew I could count on my goalie and my other defenders.”
The Hornets were held scoreless for the first 8½ minutes of the fourth quarter despite a furious effort. Swanson stopped four close-in shots to protect her team’s one-goal lead. Mansfield finally broke through with 3:22 remaining to tie the game at 14 and set the stage for late drama.
Less than a minute later Kipperman took the draw, made a nice spin move at the goal circle, and ripped a shot that made it 15-14 with 2:32 left. Yet another draw control by Kipperman gave the Warriors possession and they ran out the clock for the win.
