EASTHAMPTON — The Williston Northampton girls lacrosse team experienced an unfortunate case of déjà vu Friday.
The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of Loomis Chaffee, 11-4 at Sawyer Field.
The Connecticut school was the only team to beat Williston in the regular season last year, subtracting from its otherwise perfect record.
“It’s not the loss, it’s how we play,” Williston coach Jen Fulcher said. “You want to be the hardest-working, most-competitive team on that field, and today that was Loomis. … We didn’t play smart, we made some uncharacteristic mistakes, and we need to learn from those.”
Fiona Bundy, of Easthampton, led Williston with two goals and three ground balls. Southampton’s Caitlin Keefe and Easthampton’s Madison Fulcher-Melendy each scored once, while Olivia Bonavita had the team’s only assist.
Scoring was scattered throughout the game. Loomis Chaffee jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the opening five minutes, but the game was scoreless for nearly six minutes before Bundy tied it at 2-2.
Loomis Chaffee (6-2) recovered to score back-to-back goals over the next minute.
The Wildcats came within 4-3 on a wraparound goal from Keefe with 10 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half, but Loomis Chaffee closed the period on a 4-0 run.
The Pelicans did not lose the lead for the remainder of the game, thanks in large part to goalie Kaleigh Quennec, who limited the Wildcats (7-1) to just one goal in the game’s final 35 minutes.
“I thought she played great, she’s a fabulous player,” Fulcher said. “We were forcing shots, we weren’t getting her moving, we weren’t changing the level of our shots, but given all that, she still made a ton of big saves, so kudos to her.”
Ball movement was key to the Pelicans’ offense, and the Williston defenders could not keep up in order to limit open scoring chances.
“We just need to remember to play our game,” Fulcher-Melendy said. “For us, it really comes down to being the hardest-working team on the field, and today we weren’t really able to come through with that. We pride ourselves on getting every ground ball, every turnover, and just being the most gritty team on the field, and going forward that’s something we know we need to do better in order to be successful.”
Williston’s offensive attack faded as the game went on, and Loomis Chaffee was able to convert turnovers into goals with a fast transition game.
The 2016 Wildcats finished their season 15-1, with the one defeat a heartbreaking 12-11 overtime loss against its out-of-state rival.
“Last year it was a game of runs, really back and forth, and we just really wanted to be consistent this game,” Fulcher-Melendy said. “We didn’t have possession as much as we would have liked last year, and those things ended up hurting us today as well.”
Added Fulcher, “I think that what killed us most is that we couldn’t win draws. When we did get the ball on our stick, we didn’t take care of it. … What we usually do is win draws, win ground balls, and take care of the ball, but Loomis did those three things better today. We did not perform well enough in those areas to beat a team like Loomis.”
Williston is back in action Wednesday at home against Northfield Mount Hermon.
“It’s all about growth,” Fulcher said. “We have to figure out what to do better, what we did well, and bounce back and play the next game.”