#5 Lewis Mills 2, #28 Weston 1 At Nassahegan Field
Senior Shannon Larkin scored in the first half, junior Mikaela Hillsberg scored in the second half and #5 Lewis Mills hung on to beat #28 Weston 2-1 in the first round of the Class M State Tournament.
"We played well in stretches," Mills coach Dennis Fowler said. "But we also had a couple stretches where we struggled, but give Weston credit. They are a solid team. They played to feet often and made us really work to possess the ball."
Larkin, an outside defender, blasted a 30-yard rocket from a deep angle along the left side at 19:20 of the first half. The shot ripped high off the opposite post and into the net for the 1-0 lead.
Hillsberg - perfectly placed 15 yards off the far right post - calmly tucked away a low cross from senior Melinda Noel just 6:21 into the second half for a 2-0 cushion.
Weston (7-10), who got 14 saves from goalie Maggie Maretz, made it interesting by capitalizing on a Lewis Mills mistake at 71:48. Grace Mattison picked off a poorly cleared ball inside the penalty box and easily struck it past Spartans' goalie Mikky Adams (8 saves).
But Lewis Mills (14-1-1) hung on, and will host #12 Stonington in the second round Saturday morning (11:00) at Nassahegan Field.
