Lauren Lee jumps to hit a shot near the net during Lincoln Academy’s 4-1 loss to Cony in a Class B South semifinal on Wednesday, June 3 in Newcastle. (Mic LeBel photo)
The second seed Lincoln Academy lost 4-1 to the third seed Cony Rams in a Class B South girls tennis semifinal match on Wednesday, June 3 in Newcastle. The defending Class B state champion Eagles were previously upset by the Rams 4-1 on May 15 in Augusta.
The June 3 loss ousted the Eagles from the playoffs and ended their season with an 11-3 record. Cony improved to 12-2 and moved on to face fourth seed Cape Elizabeth in the Class B South regional final. Cape Elizabeth upset the top seed Yarmouth 3-2 on June 3.
“The top four Class B teams in the state – Yarmouth, LA, Cony, and Cape Elizabeth – were all very tight in terms of competitiveness,” said Eagles head coach Melissa Burroughs. “Although our loss was a bit disorienting, we knew that Cony was the better team that day and that they deserved to move on. Cony has two players at numbers one and two singles who are among the top in the state, and though I would put (first year LA singles players) Ruby Glenn and Calliope Hagan up against anyone, Cony’s two girls have more experience. Everyone who has played Cony this season knows that they have to win at third singles and both doubles to take the match.”
The Rams won each of the three singles matches in straight sets. Kira Gregor beat Lincoln’s Ruby Glenn 6-1, 6-2 in first singles. Cony’s Lilah Goldey defeated Calliope Hagan 6 4, 6-1 in second singles. Ava Habib outstroked LA’s Gigi Blake 7-5, 6-3 in third singles.
The Rams duo of Rekha Goonesekere and Lucy Lord edged Lauren Lee and Elise Lupien 6-4, 7-5 in first doubles. The Lincoln pairing of Caroline Allan and Meara McManus won the only match of the day for the Eagles when they shut out Olivia Folsom and Addie Cerrato 6-0, 6-0 in second doubles.
“We’re a young team this year, a building team. We have championship experience in our juniors and we have a lot of new experience and energy in our freshmen and the combination is wonderful, but new,” said Burroughs. “We will not lose any of our top seven girls going into next year, so I’m hopeful that this loss will help inform next year if not the next couple of years. I couldn’t feel better about the team this year, how they invested 100% of their effort and have learned and grown.”
Here are some bonus photos from the match:
