EASTHAM — What a difference a few weeks make. The Nauset Regional High School girls lacrosse team, which suffered a 17-6 thrashing at Falmouth in mid-April, defeated the Clippers at home on Tuesday afternoon 12-11 in a game in which they never trailed.
Falmouth (8-7) came into the contest with a four-game winning streak after defeating a formidable Nantucket team by one goal on Saturday. The Warriors (8-5) were also on a tear, having won six of their last seven. They bore little resemblance to the team Falmouth defeated by 11 goals.
That was obvious at the outset as junior captain Julia Kipperman won the draw and the Warriors spent the next three-plus minutes attacking the Clippers’ goal. They finally broke through on a free position by Kipperman to take a lead they would not relinquish.
Less than a minute into the second, the Warriors equaled their goal total in the previous Falmouth game when senior captain Zoe Labdon found the back of the net to make it 6-2. They took a 7-5 lead into halftime.
As is commonplace for this team, they dominated the draws, ringing up a 21-5 advantage. Kipperman conducted her own personal master class as she won the majority of the draws single-handedly.
But this was much more than a one-girl show, as the midfielder from Brewster was the first to acknowledge. “It was a great game for us — we all have each other’s backs,” said a tired but happy Kipperman. “The energy of the entire team was completely reversed from the previous game. It was so loud on the sidelines, I could hardly hear.”
Kipperman finished with nine goals and an assist. Labdon had two goals and an assist, while sophomore Megan Sullivan scored once. Defender Colby Shipman notched an assist to close out the scoring.
Coach Heather Stevens said her charges “fought to the last second of the game. It was an amazing team effort.”
Ali Seppela and Maddie Coccoro made consistent pests of themselves in the defensive end, stifling repeated Falmouth dodging attempts.
The Warriors led 11-7 after three periods, but Falmouth would not go quietly, quickly scoring twice to pull within two. But Nauset answered. Kipperman unleashed her patented underhand shot to restore a three-goal lead. Two more Falmouth goals made the score 12-11 with 4:32 left.
The remaining minutes provided more drama than exists behind the scenes on White Lotus.
Falmouth goalie Raelynn Spellman made a solid save on Labdon’s bounce shot with just under two minutes remaining. Following a timeout, Falmouth kept the ball in their offensive end for the rest of the game.
Goalie Maeve Kennally came on in the second half and made six saves. None was bigger than her stick save on a waist-high point-blank shot from five yards out with 20 seconds to go. “I knew the score, and I said to myself, ‘I got this,’ ” said the freshman netminder.
After Kennally’s save, the ball rebounded into a mass of players who tried in vain to gain possession until time expired. An exuberant Warriors bench emptied to embrace their goalie and teammates.
