Apponequet girls lacrosse rides balanced scoring to Div. 3 Round of 32 win

LAKEVILLE — The "Big Six" have gotten the job done on offense all season for the Apponequet girls lacrosse team.

Freshman Cece Levrault, sophomore Abby Bradley, senior Emilia Keane, junior Celia Hiller, sophomore Addie Taylor, and sophomore Jayleigh Howarth have combined to score 282 goals for the Lakers and all six scored in an 18-1 Div. 3 Round of 32 win over Malden Catholic at a cold and windy Griffith Field on Sunday.

Levrault, who leads the team with 73 goals, scored six times. and the Lakers also got a hat trick from Keane, who ran her season total to 45. Hiller (42) and Taylor (38) had two-goal games, and Howarth scored once to give her 37 for the season.

Bradley scored her 47th goal of the season, and three players added solo goals in the second half — junior Kaylee Vasques, sophomore Isabel Keane, and Niamha Gallagher.

"We've done a great job moving the ball and getting everyone involved on offense," Apponequet head coach Cindy Cuthbertson said. "We have unselfish kids who like to share the ball and play as a team. It's really been a lot of fun to watch them develop this season."

The Lakers only have four seniors on their roster. They started six freshmen a year ago and have a team that's been fueled by a solid group of underclassmen.

"We've benefited from the experience our younger players picked up last season," Cuthbertson said. "We're young, but we play with a lot of confidence and energy. We have a good group on defense and our quick transition from defense to offense has been a team strength."

Defensively, sophomore goalie Allison Arruda has anchored a strong unit that features seniors Abby Menendez and Hannah Procaccini, and sophomores Cynthia Morales and Meredith Hayward.

Arruda has stepped up in a big way to hold 11 opponents to nine goals or less in a sport where double-digit scoring by both teams is common. She's allowed only 24 goals in her last five games (4.80 a matchup) and the last team to score double-digit goals against her was Dartmouth, which notched a 14-13 win over the Lakers on May 15.

"She communicates well with her teammates, and she has good skills," Cuthbertson said. "We've done a good job keeping opponents away from our net. We make it tough for them to get good shots and we've been very good at clearing the ball and setting our offense in motion."

Against the Lancers, the Lakers won the draw-control battle, they moved their feet well, they came away with a lot of ground balls on the fly, and they set a good tone with a quick start on offense.

"That was the best game we've played all season," Cuthbertson said. "We played well down the stretch in the regular season and it's good to see that kind of effort carry over into the state tournament. We couldn't have asked for a better start."

WHAT IT MEANS: The win was the fifth straight for the Lakers, who improved to 14-5. ... The loss was the fourth straight for the Lancers, who wrapped up a 6-12 season. ... The Lakers will host the winner of Monday's 4 p.m. Round of 32 matchup between No. 9 Swampscott (12-4) and No. 24 Dedham (6-12) in the Round of 16 at a time and date to be announced. ... The Lakers have already improved on last season's 13-5 record.

KEY SEQUENCE: The Lakers scored four goals in the first two minutes of the game to grab some early momentum on the way to building an insurmountable 14-1 lead at halftime. Levrault opened the scoring on a breakaway that was set in motion by a quick over-the-top pass from Bradley.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Arruda, who made nine saves and notched her 300th career save in the first half.

MALDEN CATHOLIC STATS: Junior Aviana Panacopoulos netted the Lancers' only goal with 8:12 left to play in the first half. The score cut the Lakers' lead to 10-1 ... Freshman goalie Abby Hagerty made five saves in the first half and junior Olivia Labella turned away three shots in the second half.

NOTES: The Lakers outshot the Lancers 26-10. ... The Lancers, who play as an independent team, scored a season-high 13 goals in a 15-13 loss to Ursuline in their season opener. ... The Lakers, who netted their season high for goals in a 23-7 South Coast Conference win over Dighton-Rehoboth in their regular-season finale, scored on four of their seven shots on net in the second half, including their last four in a row. ... Because of the 10-goal differential rule, part of the first half, and all of the second half, was played with a running clock.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Apponequet girls lacrosse beats Malden Catholic in Div. 3 playoffs