Kell girls lacrosse earns first trip to finals

Lambert and Roswell advanced to the boys Class AAAAAA state championship on Tuesday by eliminating teams that they had previously beat in the regular season. Lambert was the only in-state school to beat Milton this season (13-11 on March 18) and grabbed another two-goal victory (10-8) Tuesday night over the Eagles to advance to the state championship for the fourth straight season.

The Longhorns were paced with a pair of first-half goals by Sean Curruthers and took a 10-2 lead heading into the fourth. Milton scored six unanswered to make it a 10-8 game, but Lambert was able to hold the comeback attempt short.

Roswell also used an early lead to hold off its opponent in the semifinals and defeated visiting Walton 12-8. The teams traded goals early and the score was tied 2-2 before Roswell netted five consecutive goals to take a 7-2 lead. Walton did its best to rally back and used a 4-1 run to cut the deficit to 8-6 entering the final quarter. Peter Kavney opened the fourth quarter with a Walton goal to make it 8-7, but Roswell was able to pull away. The Hornets swept the season series with Area 2-rival Walton with their 12-9 victory on April 23.

Roswell and Lambert faced once this season and the visiting Longhorns won the March 12 matchup with a 9-8 edge.

Class A-AAAAA set its girls state championship on Tuesday as Kell and Westminster advanced to the finals. Kell survived Blessed Trinity with a 12-11 victory and advanced to the program’s first state championship. Westminster, the four-time defending state champs dominated St. Pius with a 19-9 win to return to the finals.

Westminster has lost one game to an in-state opponent all season and it was a 14-9 loss to the high-powered Longhorns. Kell’s semifinals victory moved the school to a record 19 wins. Leslie Ferguson netted five of Kell’s 12 goals in the semis and teammates Haley Swift and Izzy Palermo both tabbed hat-tricks. Swift led Kell in the first round with four goals and six assists and the potent Kell offense is averaging 16.6 goals per game this season.