Concord-Carlisle easily passes quarterfinal test against Central Catholic

CONCORD The top-seeded Concord-Carlisle Patriots are moving on in the Division I girls lacrosse state semifinals after a convincing - preeminence over the ninth-seeded Central Catholic Raiders on Saturday I am so proud of these girls They have been through so much this season on the field and in the group and they have been as mature and workable as you could have possibly hoped for Patriots coach Erin Cash declared of her club s performance We have a lot of girls who truly love the championship of lacrosse and it s beautiful when they realize how much they re capable of The Patriots broke the scoreless tie four minutes into the championship Three and a half minutes later they added another one Central Catholic cut the deficit in half with a goal with seconds left in the opening quarter just to have Concord-Carlisle take back the two-goal lead seconds later Central Catholic's Camryn Donlan front is pursued by Concord-Carlisle's Scarlett Mirak during Concord-Carlisle's - girls lacrosse state tournament win Saturday Photo by Paul Connors Media News Group Boston Herald The first half as a whole displayed Concord-Carlisle s coordinated motion offense that chewed up clock like clockwork The offense would naturally have a participant pop open for a quick and close shot or give them a competitor with the ball or a clear dodging alley The second quarter was a fast one with the Patriots playing keepaway They won the quarter - with goals at the five-minute mark and two more within the final seconds and took a - lead into halftime Our players are so selfless and nobody is looking to be a superstar They re so cohesive and they all will give up a B-tier shot for themselves if they can recognize that their teammate can have an A-tier shot one pass away Cash announced The third saw more of the same as the Patriots dominated time of possession They added three more one of which being the hat trick maker for sophomore attack Scarlett Mirak This helped extend the lead to - after three quarters Central Catholic's Kerri Finneran left and Concord-Carlisle's Karleigh Mutch face off during the third quarter in Concord Photo by Paul Connors Media News Group Boston Herald In the fourth it was more of the same ball control and wasting clock Mirak picked up her fourth goal of the afternoon in this final frame Senior attack Karleigh Mutch also racked up a hat trick in the fourth Every time Central Catholic tried to mount particular type of comeback Concord-Carlisle would answer right back The competition could have been more out of hand if not for specific impressive saves from Raiders goalie Anne Cashman Any short possession Central Catholic did have the ball was essentially stolen right away with the swarming defense and smothering stick checks The state semifinal will be Tuesday against Chelmsford