Vikes, Lancers finish strong
Rivals overcome slow starts and will play for ECC title on Thursday
Montville — The theme of Tuesday's Eastern Connecticut Conference boys' lacrosse semifinals: start slow, finish fast.
Six-time defending conference champion East Lyme downed Stonington 17-7 in the opener at Montville High School.
“One thing I'd say our team struggles with is we start off slow, pretty slow, and then we start to pick things up,” East Lyme's Sean Williams said. “We need to start firing right out of the gates.”
Waterford beat Bacon Academy for the third straight time in the nightcap, 8-5.
“We were putting in the effort and everything (in the first half), but we really needed (better) communication on the field,” Waterford's Logan Bowdish said. “After the half, we started playing Waterford lacrosse. We were passing the ball, talking, moving, and getting it into the back of the net.”
The top-seeded Vikings (10-7) will host to No. 2 Waterford (16-1) in Thursday's final at 7 p.m.
East Lyme beat the Lancers 10-7 on May 4 in their only meeting. It has had a stranglehold on the ECC, winning 12 of the last 13 titles, including last season's 6-5 win over Waterford.
The Lancers fell behind 2-0 before they began methodically taking con-
trol. They scored five straight goals to lead 5-2 with over nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Waterford head coach Chris Landry credited the Bobcats for its slow start as well as having played its Senior Night on Monday against Griswold.
“Bacon is a very good program,” Landry said. “They're well coached. At this point of the year, I don't think it's ultra-critical that you have practice before every game. Sometimes it doesn't happen. Senior Night, we weren't practicing our normal game plan that we would normally play. People aren't playing their normal positions.
“Without making it a total excuse, it wasn't our cleanest moment. But the score was 7-3 the last time we played them (May 16), so this is what we expected. We expected a tight game.”
Bray Griffith had two goals and an assist for Waterford and Justin Pezzolesi had a goal and two assists.
Kyle Cardoza added two assists for the Lancers and Bowdish scored twice.
East Lyme led fourth-seeded Stonington 3-2 with over eight minutes left in the second quarter when it scored four straight goals to end the first half.
The Vikings led by as much as 12-4 in the third quarter.
“It took us a little bit to get going,” East Lyme head coach Gary Wight said. “When things got rolling, we did pretty well. Sean (Williams) was seeing everyone. He played a balanced game both being the creator (five assists) and the finisher (six goals). He was seeing everybody.” James McCoy had two goals and three assists for East Lyme and Matt Boguszewski and Conner Schofner both had two goals and two assists. Also, Matt Bauman had two goals and an assist and Mack Bentley added 12 saves.
David Bibeau had a goal and two assists for the Bears (11-6). Riley Burnside and Aaron Lahah both scored twice and Kenny Reid had eight saves.
“We played very well in the first (quarter),” Stonington head coach Dean Patty said. “I think our legs let out. (We have) a short bench, compared to East Lyme, which is a much larger school with a lot of talent.
“Some games, unfortunately, you're outgunned.” n.griffen@theday.com