Three goals from Taylor Glanville and Maddie Holden and two goals from Ava Butz resulted in one impressive win for Greenwich Academy’s lacrosse team.

Using stellar play on the offensive end and a strong overall defensive effort, Greenwich Academy took the lead for good against Ridgefield with 11 minutes remaining and proceeded to post a well-earned 11-8 home victory today.

“I thought it was a great game,” said Butz, a senior co-captain/midfielder. “It was such a good team effort both on defense and offense. Our sliding on defense was excellent and our help possession on attack was great, we had so many different scorers, which was huge.”

Sophomore midfielder Amelia Lewis, freshman attack Katie Barr and junior midfielder Ellie Burdick added one goal apiece for the Gators, who received four saves from junior goalie Rebecca Arpano.

GA took a 7-4 lead into halftime, then opened a 10-5 advantage at the 9:15 mark of the second half. The Gators held a significant possession edge, thanks in large part to Glanville, who gained seven draw controls.

“It was a really balanced game, Taylor Glanville had an extraordinary effort, she had six or seven draw controls,” GA co-head coach Katie Johnson said. “Having that many extra runs set us up for success. We have been working on having more plays and attempts. Getting the draw was the No. 1 priority for us and it worked out well today.”

The visiting Tigers, one of the top teams in the FCIAC, held a 3-2 edge, then after GA tied the score, Holden tallied in transition, giving the home team a 4-3 advantage with 11:11 left in the opening half.

Lewis bounced a shot by Ridgefield’s goalie with 9:48 remaining in the first half, extending the Gators’ lead to 5-3. Senior Aerin Krys’ goal off a free position shot cut GA’s advantage to 5-4 with 8:33 to go in the opening half, but the hosts seized a three-goal lead heading into halftime, behind two straight goals, one of which came from Barr.

“I think we did a great job, the offense was more fluid,” said Glanville, a senior midfielder, who scored twice in the second half. “Usually we stick to plays, but today we did some free motion and it worked well.”

A key sequence in the game occurred late in the first half, when Ridgefield had possession for the final 2:50, yet was unable to score, as GA’s defenders hunkered down and were exceptional.

“That was huge, that was all due to our communication and slides that we’ve been working on all year and I think that everyone was so focused on not letting them get a shot and not letting them score,” said Greenwich Academy junior Ellie Johnson, who helped anchor the squad’s standout defensive effort.

Said Greenwich Academy co-head coach Halley Quillinan Griggs: “To close the first half they possessed the ball for the final 2:50 and every single defender on the field made a stand to keep the other team at bay. When you have seven players that are able to make plays like that individually it makes a really special unit and we’re really glad that we have leaders back there to set the tone for the team.”

Burdick scored off a dodge with 20:43 left in the second half, Glanville converted a free position attempt with 13:20 left to play and Butz scored with 9:15 to go, putting the Gators on top, 10-5. Arpano made several second half saves for Greenwich Academy, while Ridgefield’s goalie finished the game with seven saves.

For Ridgefield, sophomores Caroline Trinkaus and Caroline Gerosa each tallied twice.

“Ridgefield is a great team, they’re really good at driving, they were definitely a really good team,” Butz said. “Everyone worked together, on the draw Taylor Glanville was amazing. I think she won 75 percent of the draws. She was great on attack too, she was definitely our player of the game.”

“We played awesome ‘D’ and attack down there and I think where we were strongest was that everyone was a threat to the goal, it didn’t matter who had the ball or where they were on the field,” said Holden, a senior midfielder/co-captain. “It’s a great feeling to see all your hard work pay off and everything is coming together now.”

Up next for Greenwich Academy is a road game against nationally ranked St. Anthony’s out on Long Island on Saturday. The matchup is part of the Gains for Brains Tournament, which is being held at Cold Spring Harbor High School.

“St. Anthony’s is one of the best teams in the country and I know they are going to be such a great opponent, so I’m really excited for our team to be challenged,” Butz said.

“I’m very excited for this weekend, it’s going to be a great weekend,” Glanville noted.

“We’re all really excited to show them what we’ve got,” Holden added.

Indeed, GA received an all-around impressive performance at each position.

“I thought that everyone put in an amazing effort and I’m so proud of everyone,” Ellie Johnson said. “The attack was so patient and working for everything that they got and being a force.”