OAKLAND — Late in the second half, down a goal after scoring two straight, it seemed almost certain the Cony girls lacrosse team was going to tie, and potentially beat, rival Messalonskee.
Then Francesca Caccamo intervened.
Caccamo scored two of her her five goals in the final three minutes to help Messalonskee hold off Cony for a 10-7 win Thursday night at Veterans Field.
“It was awesome, we needed that (win) going into the playoffs,” said Caccamo, a senior. “That was a big win for us.”
Messalonskee, which entered the game as the No. 2 seed in Class B, finishes the regular season with a 10-2 record. Cony, the No. 3 seed in B, falls to 10-2.
Tied 3-3 at halftime, the Eagles tallied two quick goals — one from Caccamo, another from Madi Doody — for a quick 5-3 lead, and at one point jumped ahead to an 8-5 lead.
Cony, however, refused to quit, getting goals from Dinah Wadleigh and Raegan Bechard to make it 8-7 in favor of Messalonskee with just under six minutes remaining.
“I’m really proud of my girls, we executed well in lots of things,” Cony head coach Gretchen Livingston said. “Hats off to Messalonskee and (Caccamo). They beat us on those transitions, that’s something that we need to work on going into the postseason. We were missing a midfield starter, but I thought the other girls stepped up.”
Caccamo managed to take the game over from there, scoring a goal on a breakaway for the 9-7 lead. Her final goal came on a wraparound from behind the net for the final 10-7 score with 1:28 left in the game.
Messalonskee’s Francesca Caccamo (3) battles with Cony’s Dinah Wadleigh (9) during a girls lacrosse game Thursday in Oakland. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“We’re starting to connect (on the field) a lot more now,” Caccamo said. “I think at the beginning of the season, we had the skill and everything. But now, the connections are awesome, and if we just keep going, it’s really good.”
“Winning any game is great, winning close games are great, we get so much out it,” Messalonskee head coach Crystal Leavitt said. “We have more work to do, (the season) is not over for us. We’re excited. We started the season with a great game, double overtime. To end the (regular) season with a close game is great. That’s what you want to see as a coach, you want to play tough games, you want to play tough teams, especially close to playoffs.”
Messalonskee jumped out to a 3-0 lead to start the game, with two goals from Caccamo and a score from Julia Wade. But the Rams answered back with goals from Bechard, Sierra Prebit and Andrea Richardson to tie it 3-3 at halftime.
Bechard and Wadleigh led Cony with two goals each.
Messalonskee goalkeeper Shea Cassani played a major role in the Eagles’ win, making 10 saves, including one on a breakaway.
Wade had two goals for Messalonskee. Journey Charles added three assists.
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