Mossi, Vadgama provide keys plays at L-S girls lacrosse edges Westwood in double overtime

SUDBURY – The goalie provides pointers on where to shoot. Lydia Mossi has every right to; she took care of business in her own end.

Moments after the junior stopped successive free positions, the senior who drives her to and from practice, Ava Vadgama, took the wheel – and her teammate’s advice. Vadgama bounced in a shot from a free position just before the final horn to hand the Lincoln-Sudbury girls lacrosse team a 10-9 double-overtime victory over Westwood on Friday afternoon.

Immediately after Vadgama’s winner, which capped a frenetic final minute, she jumped into the arms of teammates Lydia Canavan and Lexi Morrissey (2 goals) before the rest of the team joined in a hopping celebration.

“It was amazing. Words can’t even describe it,” said Vadgama of the rematch of last year’s Division 1 state championship, also won by L-S, 10-9.

Kate Sullivan’s rebound goal with 91 seconds remaining in regulation tied the score at 9-all to set up the first of what turned out to be two, three-minute OT periods.

In the second, Mossi faced two shots from eight meters – aka free positions – from twin sisters and Quinnipiac commits Charlotte and Emilie DeMaio.

Mossi stopped both.

“Nails, that girl,” L-S coach Kaillee Kelly said.

“She’s so clutch,” Vadgama added.

After Mossi’s second game-saver, Vadgama, who also scored in the third quarter, appeared to have scored the winner, but the whistle was blown before her shot hit the net. On the ensuing free position in the final seconds, teammate Harper Friedholm, who scored four goals, lent some words of encouragement.

“I was really trying to breathe and center myself,” Vadgama said. “It is a lot of pressure, but my teammate, Harper, was like, ‘it’s seven seconds, you have nothing to lose,’ which really helped me a lot.”

Also helpful: Mossi’s voice.

Fake high, shoot low.

Vadgama did indeed.

“It did play through my head,” she said of Mossi’s advice on free positions. “I have a tendency to shoot high.”

“Those are some of the hardest shots to save,” said Mossi, who is committed to Dickinson College. “I try to coach them (her teammates) as much as possible, in practices especially. Like, ‘Hey, here’s a tip, fake high, shoot low.’ Even if they score on me a bunch of times in practice, I just know it’s for the better.”

L-S (3-2) led 5-2 midway through the second quarter and 7-4 on Ella Ryan’s tally with 13 seconds left in the half. Morrissey’s second goal late in the third quarter put the Warriors up 9-7. They did not score in the final 12 minutes, but the defense of Tatum Friedholm, Emerson Acquaviva, Victoria Evans and Sophie Ward were key to keeping Westwood (5-3), which has scored at least 15 goals in a game three times this season, at bay.

The rest was up to Mossi, who has been a part of two state championship teams at L-S, beginning with the school’s swim and dive title in 2023. Kelly compared the strain of the two sports as a key to Mossi’s success.

“The pressure on a swimmer is so deep,” the coach said. “I do have to say a big thanks to the swim team for helping her with that mental toughness. When you stand on the blocks in a swim meet, you feel those nerves and you’ve got to be able to home in and I really think it shows in her play on the lacrosse field.”

Mossi agreed, whether it’s a 100-meter breaststroke or an 8-meter free position.

“You just,” she said, “have to focus on the moment.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Mossi's saves, Vadgama's double OT winner sends L-S girls lax past Westwood