By Kim J. Harmon

Sean Raby knew – back in April – what he would have to do to score his 100th career goal for the Newtown High School lacrosse team. He did the math, came up with the number 37, and then filed it away and went to work.

“I thought about it at the beginning of the season,” he said Tuesday night after scoring his 100th in a 21-9 rout of East Lyme at Bruce Jenner Stadium, “and I kept it in the back of my mind. I wanted to think about the team rather than personal goals.”

But as the milestone approachedhe couldn’t help but think about it.

“Sure, I was counting down,” said Sean. “First it was 11 and then seven and I knew I needed four tonight to get it. I was pretty sure I’d get it.”

Sean scored three goals in the first half alone – two of them on an isolation play that allows Raby to take advantage of his size and his tenacity – as the Nighthawks built up an 11-5 lead. Raby did not have to wait long for the fourth goal, either, picking that up early in the third quarter on that same isolation play. Raby took the ball up near the top of the box, left of the cage, and then bulled his way through the East Lyme defense.

Oh, he took some punishment, dropping the ball when his stick was whacked, But he picked the ball back up again and fired over the top for the goal.

No. 100.

Raby might be the most prolific scorer on the team, but he credits the team’s offensive flexibility (“We used to have just a few people scoring,” he said, “but this year we’ve been able to spread it around pretty well”) as one of the things that helped him reach his goal.

Sean is the second lacrosse player to reach the 100-goal plateau this year. Just two weeks ago,_Caitlin Collier scored her 100th goal in a loss to Staples and soon after went on to become the all-time leading lacrosse scorer in school history, breaking Charlie Heinzer’s previous mark of 121.