Hollis Brookline girls lacrosse goes on late run to beat Windham (video)

HOLLIS - The Hollis Brookline High School girls lacrosse team knew it had to play a certain way in order to come out with a win Tuesday night against Windham.

But when the Jaguars countered that with an adjustment that helped them take the lead midway through the second half, the Cavaliers had to make one of their own.

HB wasted no time making that adjustment work, as the Cavs tied the game just 54 seconds after Windham had taken the lead, starting a 6-0 run that would swing momentum on the way to a 14-10 win over the Jaguars in a Division II game.

"We changed our defense," HB coach Linda Haytayan said. "Our goalie (Hallie Bardani) took charge in making that call. We have an option to go in and out of several defenses, and we also changed up the draw. We just didn’t lay down. We got gritty.

"They’re a super fast team and they’re hard to stop in the midfield, so we had to make some defensive adjustments."

The changes worked, as HB (10-2, No. 6 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) not only held Windham scoreless, but held the Jaguars without a shot for more than eight minutes, even though they continued to win draws.

"We were winning the draws and then turning it over," Windham coach Russ Perkins said. "Hollis Brookline, I’ve got to give them credit, every single year, they are one of the most aggressive teams we play. I love that. It’s the hardest thing to coach. You either have it or you don’t. It’s a hard thing to learn. They came out and that surge I attribute to them getting every groundball, making every check."

Paige Mello led HB with five goals while Alyssa Hill had two goals and five assists and Ireland Stark added three goals and an assist. Abbie Ogren, Bella Haytayan (one assist), Cailean Roy and Sabrina Hill also had a goal apiece and Bardani made eight saves.

Windham (9-3, No. 8) got six goals from Chloe Hall but no one else had more than one. Maria Killian and Darby Madden had a goal and an assist apiece and Cali Behling and Emma Kondzuak also had a goal each.

HB jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start the game, but Windham kept chipping away throughout the first half, and finally tied the game at 7 on Behling's goal with 15 seconds left before the break.

The momentum carried into the second half for the Jaguars, as Madden made it 8-7 just 1:03 into the second half. Mello scored just 34 seconds later for HB to tie the game again, but Hall scored on a free position with 15:55 remaining to give Windham the lead again.

"I think it was our defense that wasn’t fronting their cutters and we were leaving a lot of people open in the middle," Linda Haytayan said. "We were playing man (defense) and they took advantage of that. We were on our heels, not the balls of our feet, and they capitalized on that. They saw the opening."

The Cavs used a timeout and won the ensuing draw, with Mello scoring to tie it at 9 just 54 seconds later. The Jaguars won the draw but turned it over right away and Alyssa Hill found sister Sabrina Hill for a goal to give HB a 10-9 lead with 12:37 to play.

HB added three more goals in a span of 3:27 to take a 13-9 lead and force Windham to use a timeout. The Jaguars won the draw again and got a shot off, but the Cavs were there to back it up, and moments later, Ogren scored to make it 14-9 with 4:41 to play.

"I think too often, defense gets overlooked in girls lacrosse," Perkins said. "Just how important it is to be able to, not scheme, but to woman up. Everything they do is a draw and dump, and they do it really well, and when we slide and double, someone is open. We’ve just got to get a little bit better on defense."