The CIAC has released its pairings for the girls' lacrosse Class L, M and S tournaments and some local New Haven area teams appear poised to make a long post season run.
In Class L, Cheshire is the No. 1 seed and has the talent and depth to get to the championship game this season led on offense by Maria Blois, Emma Farrel, Kathleen Kallbian and Alyssa Hague among others. But it won't be easy for the Rams in the upper bracket who could potentially face No. 8 Ridgefield in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Staples in the semifinals. No. 2 Newtown and No. 3 Greenwich are the top challengers in the lower bracket.
In Class M, defending champion Darien, the No. 9 seed, is the is the team to beat. The Blue Wave have five losses but they are the result of one of the toughest schedules in girls lacrosse in the state.
No. 1 New Canaan, No. 3 Wilton and No. 6 Barlow are the top challengers for the Blue Wave.
Hand, led by goalie Christy Forrest, and Guilford, led by high scoring Riley Smith and Leigh Rooney, have the talent to advance in Class M. But Hand would have to get by New Canaan and Darien just to get to the semifinals.
In Class S, Shoreline Conference powers No. 1 Haddam-Killingworth and No. 12 North Branford have a solid shot to get to the championship game, but only one could do it since both would potentially meet in the semifinals. The Cougars are led on offense by Kiley Anderson and the Thunderbirds are led by high-scoring Emmy Dulak.
The top challengers for the Shoreline teams are No. 2 Granby and No. 3 Weston.