Page 213 - WHS FH 2014 Memory Book - Megan Cunningham

for eighth-seeded Barlow, the school a town over in Redding which plays in the South- West Conference and
last faced Wilton two years ago in states ( losing 3- 0), the Falcons rounded out their season at 13- 6- 1 overall.
Barlow, which Hynes said she knew was a good squad, made it known right off the bat that it came to play, and
the game was fairly even through 30 minutes. The Warriors certainly tested Falcons sophomore goalie Tatiana
Naclerio (12 saves) the entire game and she made two key stops on high shots by Jillian Mahon and Bridget
Ward 4: 40 into the first half. Senior captain and midfielder Kristen Godin took a shot off a pass from Ward but
Naclerio made the save 6: 08 in.

Wilton junior goalie Amanda Hendry made both her saves in the first off, a shot by Libby Tower after a corner
with 14: 27 on the clock and following a Brenna Prevelige shot at the near post with eight and a half minutes
left. Barlow head coach Connie Chapin, who was a longtime high school referee and also coaches youth field
hockey in Wilton, said she couldn’t have asked much more from her charges and that the Warriors stepped up
their play in the second half.

“Wilton made some really good adjustments on their defense,” said Chapin, who also had high praise for
Hendry and Cunningham. “They were cutting off our passes and reading the passes much better in the second
half. They’re the defending state champions and our kids played extremely well against them. I wish Wilton
well the rest of the state tournament and I hope they win the whole thing.”

It didn’t take long for the Warriors to get on the scoreboard in the second half as they cashed in off a penalty
corner 2: 25 in. Cunningham, who was close to unstoppable intercepting passes the entire game, took the corner
and passed the ball across the circle in to Godin, whose high shot was deflected off Ward’s stick in front of the
cage and the ball found its way to Katherine Campbell, who was located at the far post and she tipped it in for
the goal. “We were getting used the field, with the turf being all wet, but we adapted really well,” Godin said of
the team’s first- half play. “We picked it up in the second half and I think we played a really great game. It
wasn’t one of our best, but it was definitely up there. “We’re hyped up and excited ( for the semifinals),” she
added. We’ve worked hard and we’re ready.”

The Warriors rarely let the Falcons cross midfield from there on out, led by the defense of Meredith Rappaport.
They basically held possession for long stretches in Barlow’s end of the field while taking six of their 11
penalty corners. Their pressure on the Barlow defense yielded an insurance goal by Delaney Baxendale on a
scramble in front of the cage with 1: 45 on the clock, to the delight of the fans and the Wilton football team,
which had come to watch from the stands after its practice. “We were much more aggressive when we had the
ball with 50- 50 balls going to them,” Hynes said. “When they ( Barlow) were taking free hits, we played much
more intelligent reading where they wanted to go. The girls played more like a team in the second half and
pulled it together to come out on top.”