NORWELL HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WIN STATE DIV. II CHAMPIONSHIP

WINCHESTER - When you win the first lacrosse state championship in the school's history, even the bus driver gets to pose in the team photo.

After dispatching top-seeded Duxbury in the South sectional final last Friday, Norwell made it two top seeds in a row - and in dominating fashion - with a 19-8 victory over Winchester at McCall Middle School.

The Clippers (19-3) will raise their first flag in only the program's fifth year of existence.

Senior All-Scholastic Lauren Strazzula finished her career in style with five goals and four assists, while also handling the draws for Norwell. Taylor Murphy and fellow junior attack Kathleen Kramer each netted five goals in the win.

"It is unbelievable," Strazzula said after drenching coach Jen Kent with Gatorade. "At the beginning of the season we thought maybe we had a shot because of the split of divisions, but we never really thought it would come down to this. But it is definitely my biggest game."

With the score knotted at 2-2 early in the first half, Strazzula found Murphy out in front of the crease for a quick 3-2 lead, an advantage the Clippers would never relinquish. Before the half was out, Murphy connected for two more goals and Norwell's lead grew to 10-4.

"Certainly the better team won today," Winchester coach Suzanne Ontso said. "Their goalie (Michelle Granara) got hot, but we helped the situation and the goal was to not let that happen. But (the Clippers) are just a really strong team with a lot of weapons, and our youth showed."

Granara, a junior, stopped eight shots, with six of those saves coming in the second period.

After Strazzula opened up the second half with her third goal, the Sachems (20-2) battled back with two of their own. Senior midfielder Stephanie Walsh and junior Tissy O'Connor cut the lead to five, at 11-6, only 3:07 into the final stanza. Strazzula answered back along with Caitlyn Jackson, who finished with two goals and two helpers, to put the Clippers back out in front, 13-6.

Granara and a stingy defense took care of the rest.

"All (Granara) does is awesome and she riles everyone up before the game, so every save she makes is big in terms of firing us up," Strazzula said.

After Jackson's goal, Norwell finished off Winchester by scoring eight of the next nine goals in impressive fashion. The Clippers held the Sachems scoreless over a span of 18 minutes.

After Murphy finished off the scoring for the champions with a little over three minutes to play, Kent emptied the bench. The postgame celebration included everyone involved with the program, including Bobby the Bus Driver.

Caption: STICKY SITUATION: Norwell's Lauren Strazzula loses the ball after being checked by Winchester's Anna Collins yesterday. Below, Norwell's Kathleen Kramer (right) hugs teammate Molly Dwyer as the Clippers celebrate their 19-8 victory and Division 2 state championship. Staff photos by David Goldman