Draw controls propel BC High to blowout
Prior to yesterday’s Division 1 South semifinal against Newton North, BC High lacrosse coach Steve Lydon stressed the importance of maintaining constant pressure on the prolific Tigers.
Safe to say, his squad were listening, as the No. 1 Eagles cruised past the No. 4 Tigers, 17-5.
Patrick Bulger led all scorers with six goals while Charlie Pyne added another four goals and one assist. As a team, the Eagles (18-3) also won 19-of-26 faceoffs, which provided a key spark to their attack.
“(Faceoffs) are one of the things we’ve really tried to focus on here in the postseason,” Lydon said. “We knew possessions were going to be really important. We wanted to make sure our defense was rested because they’re a really tough offensive team.”
The contest opened with an impressive behind-the-back goal from North sophomore Hunter Adam. But that was the Tigers’ only lead of the game, as Pyne responded with a pair of goals just seven seconds apart.
Pyne finished with a hat trick in the first half, along with goals from Bulger, Christian Price, Patrick Jennings and Max Djusberg.
Newton North finally responded to the Eagles’ onslaught after halftime with a goal from Will Thompson. But any thoughts of a comeback were thwarted by the Eagles’ Bulger. The senior attackman went on a tear in the third quarter, scoring five of his six goals and three in the final minute to shut the door.
Duxbury 14, Needham 7 — Riley Bergstom led a balanced attack with five goals and an assist as the No. 3 Dragons (17-5) knocked off the second-seeded host Rockets (18-4) in a Div. 1 South semifinal.
Bergstom tallied three times in the first period as the Dragons opened up a 4-1 lead. He added a fourth goal just before halftime to push the edge to 5-2 lead. Duxbury blew the game open in the second half, scoring eight of the next nine goals to take a 13-3 lead.
Matty Gill had three goals and two assists for Duxbury, which face BC High in the South final on Wednesday (time TBA) at Harvard University.
Girls
Andover 11, Woburn 8 — Jordan Torres scored four goals, none bigger than a second half strike to halt a furious rally as the No. 4 Golden Warriors (18-6) held off the No. 3 Tanners (16-5) in the Div. 1 North final at Newburyport High.
“There was no shot we were going home without that trophy,” Andover coach Cat Gross said. “Every single one of us knew it. We could feel it. We had a little bit of a lull in the second half, but we still kept fighting.”
The Golden Warriors led 8-2 at halftime, but Woburn opened the second half with a 6-1 run. Key saves from goalie Marissa Gregory and a pair of goals each from Kelsey Long and Maddi Squires had the Tanners within one at 9-8 with 11:17 to play.
That’s when Torres struck for her final goal of the afternoon, bouncing one in from just in front of goal. Emma Farnham and Lauren Najarian each scored twice for Andover, while goalie Olivia Hodge made six saves.
Andover will face Needham in the state semifinals tomorrow night (7) at Babson College.