The sun was shining on the final day of competition Saturday, as Middlesex made the trip to Newport, R.I. to face the rival Dragons on St. George’s Day. The Zebras closed out the year in fine fashion, defeating the Dragons in both Girls’ Varsity and JV Lacrosse and Boys’ Varsity and JV Lacrosse. Baseball posted 13 hits on the day and both Tennis teams played their hearts out to end the season.
Boys’ Varsity Lacrosse: Middlesex 13, St. George’s 11
The Zebras started an almost completely senior line up with senior Connor Sloan between the pipes, his first varsity start. The two teams slugged it out in the first quarter, finishing 3-3 after one. The Dragons netted two early goals in the second but MX answered with two to tie it up at 5. With 27 seconds on the clock, the Zebras went ahead by one to enter halftime, 6-5. In the third quarter, MX won a lot of possession time on the face off and played smarter offense, scoring four unanswered goals and a 10-5 lead. After trading a pair of late goals, MX went into the last period 11-6. However, the Dragons continued to fight, scoring twice in the fourth, which the Zebras answered with two. St. G’s got a pair in the last minute to keep it exciting but Middlesex held on for the victory and finished with a 10-5 record for the season. Boys’ JV Lacrosse also finished the season with a 6-4 win over the Dragons.
Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse: Middlesex 10, St. George’s 6
It took the Zebras some time to shake off their bus legs as the Dragons scored the first two goals in six minutes. Middlesex got on the board with a strong goal by captain and four-year varsity player Claire Miller, which would be her first of five goals on the day, capping off a career of 96 goals and 72 assists. The game was back and forth and physical for the next 12 minutes and neither team scored until the final two minutes of the half, heading into the break with a low 2-3 score in the Dragons favor. However, the Zebras came alive in the second half, scoring seven unanswered goals thanks to Miller, senior Kat Barry, and juniors Emma Fehnel and Hannah Saghir. Ellie Herring and Miller finished up the scoring for the day resulting in a 10-6 win for the Middlesex. Senior defenders Diana Uhrig and Natalie Zaffiro were stingy in the defense under the anchor of goalies Cece DeSimone and Caroline Fischer. Girls’ JV Lacrosse posted a 14-11 victory over the Dragons to finish their season with a 15-2 record.
Varsity Baseball: St. George’s 6, Middlesex 5
Middlesex Baseball took a 5-3 lead to open the game as the team posted 13 hits and sophomore Will Thrun and senior Justin White each drove in two runs. But St. George’s regrouped and scored three runs in the bottom of the 6th to erase the deficit and ultimately, come away with the victory, 6-5.
Boys’ Varsity Tennis: St. George’s 12, Middlesex 3
Despite the score line, the Boys’ Tennis team had a great showing at St. George’s. Leading the charge were the team’s three seniors, captain David Fan, Tim Wing, and Will Painter. All three seniors ended their careers on a high note; both Wing and Painter were able to pick up important points at singles. The team thanks them for their four years of commitment and energy. Sophomore Alex Muresianu grinded out an impressive second set win at number four singles. Freshman Alex Wernink and new sophomore Jamie Clay also had impressive showings at numbers two and six, respectively. The boys had a great match and left St. George’s a little disappointed, but altogether happy that they were able to collectively put up a good team effort.
Girls’ Varsity Tennis: St. George’s 11, Middlesex 4
The Middlesex Girls’ Varsity Tennis team lost 4 – 11 to St. George’s Saturday.The final score unfortunately does not show how many long, hard-fought rallies were played and how many games went into deuce. The Middlesex team fought to stay in it, but struggled to win the critical points. Sophomore Laura Kaye started off her match strong, employing good offensive strategy and defensive consistency. She won the first nail-biting set 7 – 5. Laura also triumphed in the hard-won second set 6 – 2. Senior captain Katie Bull at #4 singles found the right balance between pace and consistency and between playing aggressively and smartly to split sets with her opponent: 3 – 6, 6 – 0. It was a nice match to end her last season on the team. It is worth mentioning that, though #1 doubles team Caroline Reynolds ’17 and Laura Kaye lost their set 2 – 8, they played some of the best doubles this season. With Laura’s sound ground stroke placement and Caroline’s aggressiveness at net, they worked together to set up good points, savvily creating holes to put the ball. Steadfast and consistent, doubles team Emma Pratt ’16 and Electra Washburn ’15 won their set 8 – 4 to finish out a winning season for this doubles pair.