Greenwich High's Kim O'Neil charges to the net in the Cardinals' 14-14 tie against Wilton Monday in an FCIAC girls lacrosse game at GHS. O'Neil had two goals and an assist in the game. (GREENWICH TIME photo / Bob Luckey Jr.)

Greenwich High and Wilton entered Monday's girls lacrosse game at GHS with equally long and impressive resumes. The visiting Warriors were ranked No. 2 in the laxpower.com state poll. The Cardinals were No. 3. Two thrilling halves and a pair of 3-minute overtime sessions in front of approximately 200 cheering fans settled nothing.

Kacie Johnson's improbable goal with 9 seconds to play in the overtime lifted Wilton from almost-certain defeat as the FCIAC powerhouses settled for a 14-14 tie that left each with overall records of 8-2-1. The atmosphere and level of play resembled a mid-season playoff game.

"It's always like that when we play," said Greenwich's Emma Kramer. "There's us, Wilton, Darien and New Canaan and the games are all like this. We always look forward to playing these games. They have a finals atmosphere."

Kramer's third - and final - goal, this one with 46 seconds to play in overtime, had appeared to be the game-winner for the Cardinals. After a lackluster first half, Greenwich asserted itself boldly in the second half.

"In the first half we were pretty flat," said Greenwich senior Hana Bowers, who paced the Cardinals with four goals and an assist. "But we were only down by one at the

Advertisement
half. I think we may have overestimated Wilton a little bit. We seem to do that a lot. At the half we realize 'We're better than them' and we pick it up in the second half. We need to be able to play (all out) from the first minute of the first half."

Greenwich Coach Erica Gerber saw warning signs early.

"I thought our warmup was a little flat," Gerber said. "The girls told me no. They knew, obviously, that it was a very important game. But this is the fourth tough game in a row for us and maybe that was just too many. I am satisfied, though. We did play with heart."

Trailing 7-6, Greenwich came out crisply and aggressively in the second half. Goals by Bowers and midfielder Kim O'Neil gave the Cardinals a 10-8 lead with 19:41 to play. The momentum was clearly in Greenwich's favor and the Cardinals appeared posied to take control of the game.

With 11:38 to play, Wilton caught the break it needed to climb back in. The Cardinals had appeared to wrest possession with a clean strip in front, but the loose ball bounced right to Wilton's Chelsea Helms, who deposited it in the net to pull the Warriors within 10-9. Two minutes later Johnson tied it at 10 and the free-for-all was on to the finish.

Wilton made it three straight when Brooke Flanagan came from behind the net and tallied to give the Warriors an 11-10 lead with 7:59 to play. Three minutes later Annie Buonnanno tied it at 11 off a pretty pass from O'Neil. That was the last goal of regulation.

In the first overtime, Greenwich's Taylor Stafford made a nice run from midfield into the scoring area and beat Grunts with 51 seconds to play. But Johnson answered 19 seconds later, taking a pass from Alexis Farmakis on the right side and beating GHS goalie Caitlin Bedford (11 saves) to tie it at 12.

Wilton took a 13-12 lead a minute and a half into the final session on a goal by Amy Drummond. Less than 30 seconds later O'Neil, who played beautifully in the second half and overtimes, tied it at 13-13 with 59 seconds left.

Greenwich appeared golden when midfielder Taylor Kralowenek controlled the ensuing draw and Kramer wound up scoring with 46 seconds to play.