GHS Boys LAX Falls in Tourney

Glastonbury's Colin Hersom attacks against New Canaan's Ty Groff in the opening round of the Class L tournament at GHS on June 1.

Glastonbury High School boys’ lacrosse fell to New Canaan 14-4 in the first round of the Class L state tournament on June 1.
           
Playing at Glastonbury High School, the  No. 6 ranked Guardians started slowly against the No. 11 Rams, who scored a pair of backbreaking goals late in the first half to build a nearly insurmountable 9-2 lead at the break. 
           
“I think early on we just made some mistakes and maybe it was some nerves. We weren’t crisp getting our passes up field,” GHS head coach Scott Hinchey said. “Early in the game they were a little more polished than we were and that was the difference. We had a chance to get some ground balls, but they played a little tougher than we did today.”
           
New Canaan had ten players score, led by Doster Crawell and Carter Connors, who scored three goals apiece.
           
Glastonbury didn’t go down without a fight and battled valiantly in the second half but were never able to sustain an offensive rhythm. 
           
Senior captain Kayden Hinchey scored a pair of goals for the Guardians, while Jack Carducci and Luke Lavery each netted one. 
           
The loss ended a successful season for the Guardians, who won 11 games in the regular season and a pair in the Central Connecticut Conference (CCC) tourney, which culminated with a CCC-Central title win over Simsbury on May 25. 
           
It was both a championship-worthy and emotional spring for the Guardians, who dedicated the season to Avery Hersom, the younger sister of players Colin Hersom and Max Hersom. Avery passed away in March at the age of 12 after battling Aicardi-Goutieres Syndrome (AGS), a rare genetic disease. The players wore ‘A’ decals on the back of their helmets to honor Avery this season. 
           
Coach Hinchey’s message to his team following the loss to New Canaan was simple, saying, “Hang your heads high.”
           
“I love the senior class; I love this team. They were a great group,” added coach Hinchey. “Today stinks; if it doesn’t go your way it’s not a fun day.”
           
After Hinchey and his assistant coaches spoke to the disappointed team, the seniors lined up and were greeted by of the returning players, who each gave the departing players a hug and some words of encouragement. 
           
[Kayden] Hinchey, [Colin] Hersom, Zack Caporale, Aidan Januario, Cole Cummings, Warren Channing, Ryan Bell, and Tyler Heaney then stepped off the field at GHS one last time in defeat, but not defeated.  
           
“They are great leaders and they played fearless. Their effort on and off the field was great,” coach Hinchey said of his seniors, who he has coached since youth lacrosse. “They carried the underclassmen and they did a lot of great work off the field to make those kids understand what our program is all about. I’m proud of that and I am proud of them.”