By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – What would a city series game in Bristol be without a little overtime?
That’s exactly what was needed when the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern girls lacrosse teams clashed on Monday night in a CCC South confrontation.
In what was termed an ‘absolute classic of a game,’ the Rams pulled out the victory in sudden death overtime, 13-12.
Emily Lowe connected on the game-winning goal for Central as the Rams moved to an outstanding 8-3 off the winning effort.
The Lancers squad turned in a gem of a performance, pushing an excellent Central squad to the brink, and then some, falling to 3-9 overall.
“[It was an] unbelievable win at BE tonight,” according to the Bristol Central girls lacrosse Twitter feed.
Sadye Kowalczyk had six goals and set the single season scoring record at Bristol Central.
Lily Hansen added two goals while Ella Ward and Rachel Wygant scored a goal each.
“We are so proud of our girls for battling all night long in very competitive game,” said Central coach Kyle Phelan. “The Eastern girls are so tough and so competitive, which is definitely a testament to their coach. It’s exactly how she played and she’s developing the same culture over there.”
Central keeper Alyah Rodriguez Warren scooped in 12 saves, making some big stops down the stretch.
“Our defense did a great job late in the game. [Eastern] put a lot of pressure and our defense and we stood up late in the game,” said Central assistant coach Emily Bourassa. “These girls gave it everything they have and left everything on the field.”
Eastern was led by Ciara Collins and Emma Stavens as the duo each scored four goals.
Alyssa Kehler and Kate Kozikowski also scored for the Lancers.
It was a one of those matches, a great back-and-forth showdown, against two teams that have shown plenty of ability over the years.
And it took late game heroics by Lowe to close the event out.
However, either team could have won this match as Eastern led early and then trailed late before tying things up to force the overtime session.
The Lancers jumped up to a 3-1 edge in the contest as Collins dropped in two goals while Stavens nabbed the other.
Central roared right back, netting three shots in a row to snare a 4-3 push.
And late in the contest, Central was in control – leading 12-9 with 7:41 remaining in regulation.
However, Eastern refused to give in.
The Lancers scored three consecutive goals to tie things up and with less than 90 seconds to go, it was a 12-12 match.
And that was the score at the end of regulation, forcing an extra frame, as Lowe came away with the game-winner to propel Central to the 13-12 win.
