What happened in high school sports on Wednesday? We've got it covered

EDITOR'S NOTE: Coaches are reminded to send in game results each weeknight by emailing pjsports@providencejournal. com from 6 to10 p. m.

GAME OF THE NIGHT Learning how to win can sometimes be the toughest lesson for inexperienced teams in any sport. For the Ponaganset girls lacrosse team, it might have gotten that education on Wednesday night against Pilgrim. Offense usually dominates the sport, but defense was the star of the show as the Chieftains and Patriots battled at the Bend Street Complex in Warwick.

Goals were tough to come by and the game went back-and-forth all night until Lana Hess scored with 4:32 left to play and Kaelyn Souza came up with three clutch saves in the final four minutes to give Ponaganset a 6-5 win over Pilgrim in their Division III matchup. Teams took turns scoring goals, with the Chieftains taking a 3-2 lead at halftime before the Patriots outscored them in the third quarter to head to the fourth knotted at four. Possessions were drag-out affairs, as both defenses stuck to their principles and refused to budge.

Ponaganset took a 5-4 lead 2:52 into the quarter on a goal by Jill Dixon, but with 5:51 left to play, Pilgrim’s Abby Killilea tied the game off a pass from Lily Farrell , who had three goals to that point of the night. Souza and Pilgrim’s Zoey Anderson both came up with huge saves in the fourth, but Hess found a way to one-time a pass into a small space and get the go-ahead score with 4:32 left in the game. The Patriots had their chances, but Souza turned away three shots – and had one go off the crossbar of the net – in a two-minute span.