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06/14/2021 12:00 AMThe Guilford girls’ lacrosse team put a gigantic exclamation point on a storybook season by capturing its first state title in school history with a dramatic win in the Class M state final last week. On June 12, the Grizzlies squared off against Barlow in championship game of the Class M State Tournament and edged out the Falcons by an 11-10 score to bring the state gold back home to Guilford.
Two weeks after winning its second-straight SCC title, No. 3 seed Guilford advanced to the Class M final and faced 4th-seeded Barlow with the state crown up for grabs at Bunnell High School in Stratford. With the Grizzlies and Falcons locked in a 10-10 tie with 1:06 remaining in the game, sophomore MJ Santa Barbara took a shot from a free position and sent it home to give Guilford an 11-10 advantage. The Grizzlies held on to their one-goal lead until the final whistle, giving Guilford its first state title in the team’s first appearance in a state championship game. Head Coach Wendy Epke’s club finished its season with an overall record of 19-2.
Coach Epke said that the Grizzlies were excited to play in the state final, but added that her athletes had a much-bigger goal in mind once they got there.
“We were just excited. Every season, to get to the last game is really hard to do. When you’re playing games, you never know if this is going to be our last matchup together. Is this going to be the last day?” said Epke. “For us, there was excitement to be the first Guilford team to make the finals. But we knew we weren’t going to be satisfied just making it there.”
Guilford and Barlow played a back-and-forth first half in the Class M title game and went to halftime tied 6-6. During the break, Coach Epke told her athletes to keep making good decisions and continue playing their game. Epke didn’t want the Grizzlies to get distracted by the moment or the tense atmosphere following halftime.
Barlow scored the first goal of the second half to take a 7-6 lead, but Guilford responded with a pair of goals to go up 8-7. The two sides traded a few more goals, including a score from senior captain Sydney Cunningham that gave the Grizzlies a 10-9 lead with just a few minutes left. Barlow came back with a goal to make it 10-10, but Guilford grabbed an 11-10 advantage on Santa Barbara’s go-ahead strike with just 1:06 on the clock.
While the Grizzlies were just seconds away claiming the state title, Coach Epke knew that they couldn’t celebrate just yet.
“It was so stressful the whole game. There wasn’t any reaction yet. It wasn’t over,” Epke said. “We were still in the moment, thinking about the next play and what we were going to do next. What are we going to do, and how are we going to survive this? It was a huge ball of excitement, along with nerves. It was everything you wanted in a state final.”
Sixty-six seconds later, the clock struck zero, and Santa Barbara’s goal had indeed held up as the difference maker as Guilford walked off the field with the Class M state championship in its grasp.
Santa Barbara, Cunningham, and fellow senior captain Hannah Tillier each scored three goals for Guilford in the victory. Junior Taylor Farace and freshman Payton Root added one goal apiece. Junior Maddie Epke had four assists and won 18 of her 21 draw controls, while Tillier contributed two assists. Junior goalie Sydney Widlitz made seven saves for the Grizzlies in their historic win.
“There were four seconds left, and the kids on the sideline were looking at the clock. I was so nervous. It wasn’t over yet,” said Epke. “It took me a minute to really realize we really won it.”
In order to reach the Class M final, the Grizzlies had to go through No. 10 seed St. Joseph in a semifinal game at Guilford High School on June 8. Guilford came away with a 14-4 victory over St. Joseph, led by six goals from Santa Barbara, four goals by Root, two goals from Maddie Epke and Cunningham, and a goal by sophomore Ella Clarke. Epke also handed out seven assists for the Grizzlies, who received two assists from Farace and an assist from Tillier. Widlitz made seven saves, and freshman Maya Stoddard had two saves in the game.
“We played really well. They had a higher-pressure defense, and we were able to get in a groove,” Coach Epke said. “Maddie was able to get the ball up through double and triple teams. MJ was getting great looks and finishing them. It was really exciting.”
Prior to claiming the state crown, the Grizzlies captured their second-straight conference title with a 13-6 victory over Hand in the SCC Tournament final. Guilford had played some strong non-conference teams during the regular season, and Coach Epke felt that those matchups had the Grizzlies well-prepared for when they opened postseason play.
“Luckily, we had the opportunity to play teams outside of the SCC. I wish we were even able to do some more. There are some really strong programs out there, and you learn a lot from those back-and-forth matchups,” Epke said. “In the beginning of the year, we made some mental errors. We were able to learn from that. When we got to the postseason, we became a much more mature team and made better decisions on the field.”
This season, Guilford was led by three senior captains in Tillier, Cunningham, and Jordan Filley. The other seniors on the team are Ella Kagan, Natalie Hudak, Kathryn Amatruda, Izzy Gurnham, Katelyn Russell, Lauren Skoglund, and Emma Appleman. Tillier was named to the All-SCC Division I First Team for her efforts on the season. Coach Epke said that this group of seniors was able to battle through distractions and that their dedication to the team proved pivotal for the Grizzlies’ success.
“The spring season, you deal with the most distractions, especially as a senior. You have spring break and Senior Prom and Senior Night. There are so many things in the playoffs. Sometimes, it’s hard to stay motivated,” said Epke. “These seniors stayed committed to the team. They knew what they missed out last year, and they didn’t want to miss out on that again. They changed the culture of our team for the better.”
While Guilford has numerous seniors graduating, the team will also have a large cast of talented players returning next year. This includes Root, Maddie Epke, Widlitz, Farace, and sophomore Kat Bassegio, who were each named to the All-SCC Division I First Team; along with junior Lorelei King, who was an All-SCC Division I Second Team honoree.
Coach Epke said she’s hoping that the returning Grizzlies will have a solid understanding of what it takes to win a championship following the club’s run in 2021. Epke wants this historic season to set off a chain reaction and serve as a building block for future success in Guilford.
“Every year that goes by, I get sad, because the seniors graduate out, and there’s always a new group. What I’ve learned is that every year we get excited, embrace, and develop the players we have,” Epke said. “This is obviously a special team as they left their mark on Guilford history. I’m hoping that they just started this change and this new culture of being hard competitors is here to stay.”
The Guilford girls’ lacrosse team’s roster features senior captains Sydney Cunningham, Jordan Filley, and Hannah Tillier; seniors Ella Kagan, Natalie Hudak, Kathryn Amatruda, Izzy Gurnham, Katelyn Russell, Lauren Skoglund, and Emma Appleman; juniors Paige Crowley, Taylor Farace, Lorelei King, Olivia McDonald, Caroline Kane, Maddie Epke, and Sydney Widlitz; sophomores Ella Clarke, Scout Climie, MJ Santa Barbara, and Kat Bassegio; and freshmen Payton Root and Maya Stoddard.