Down one with a minute to go, the Winchester girls lacrosse team quickly notched a pair of goals to send rivals Ellis home with an 8-7 loss. After the buzzer, players swarmed goalie and co-captain Sage Grodin to celebrate their triumph while a crestfallen Ellis squad trudged off Garland Field to an awaiting bus.

Goalie and co-captain Sage Grodin described the feeling before the game, saying, “I would say they were our biggest rivalry this season, so we came out hungry and ready to put up a good fight.”

Ellis opened the scoring with back-to-back goals before Winchester brought the game back to even. The two sides continued to trade shots as the match progressed, with neither side showing a clear advantage. The game was tied at the half, but Ellis pulled ahead to make 7-6 with a minute left to go. With less than sixty seconds left, Sr. Claudia Brelsford wove through the green-clad defenders and found the back of the net for the fourth time before returning to another faceoff. She won the contest, quickly charged downfield, and passed to So. Laura Musekamp who was then fouled. Laura scored on the foul shot to send the Bears past a speechless Ellis team.

Sage reflected, “I’m so proud of everyone on the field today. We don’t usually do well when we are down, but today, we brought the intensity and played smart lacrosse.”

Winchester has two more games this season—Aquinas away on Friday, April 28th, and Hampton home on Thursday, May 5th. They will endeavor to end the year with a 5-5 record and to reach the playoffs without incident.