Showcasing its skills on both ends of the field, Greenwich Academy registered an impressive record of 2-1-1 during a two-day span at the Girls High School Lacrosse National Championship at Farmington Sports Arena in Farmington, Conn.

After going 1-1 on the 39-team tournament’s opening day on Wednesday – defeating Lake Oswego from Oregon and losing to William Penn Charter School – Greenwich Academy played the Red Rams, a team comprised of New Canaan athletes, to an 8-8 tie, then defeated Dexter from Southfield, Mass., on Thursday.

GA narrowly missed advancing to the semifinal-round of the Girls High School Lacrosse National Championship. Four of the tournament’s 39 teams made it to the final day of action today at Farmington Sports Arena.

“We had a great day yesterday (Wednesday),” Greenwich Academy co-head coach Katie Johnson said. “We played the Red Rams (New Canaan) to an 8-8 tie, which was our best game of the week. It was very close the entire time. Both teams played very well between the restraining lines. We were really proud of our defense, because New Canaan has really strong offensive players. We were thrilled and happy with the way the girls played that game. We just couldn’t pull it out in the very end. If we had gotten a win there may have been a chance for us to move on in the tournament.”

Johnson credited rising junior Rebecca Arpano for her fine play in goal Wednesday and throughout the tournament, which featured some of the top-ranked high school lacrosse teams in the nation.

“Rebecca had an outstanding day on Thursday, she was our MVP that day,” Johnson said. “Rebecca played very well the second day, no one scored on her low.”

Margaret Maruszewski, a 2021 GA graduate, who is headed to Dartmouth, led the way offensively in both games on Thursday, along with rising senior Maddie Holden and rising sophomore Dylan Casazza.

“Against Dexter Southfield, we played really well, everyone on the team played quite a bit,” Johnson said. “We had contributions from a lot of different players on the team, it was a full team effort. It was cooler outside yesterday (Thursday) than it was the first day (Wednesday) and our legs were fresher. Our shooting percentage was high in that game.”

Ellie Johnson, a rising junior and Holden helped pace GA’s defensive effort. Holden and Johnson marked the opponent’s top attackers throughout. Ava Butz, a rising senior and Ellie Burdick were also defensive standouts.

“We really played our best and left it all out on the field,” coach Johnson said.