L-S avenges only losses to rival A-B with sectional win

ACTON — Junior Henry Grosso and the Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse team weren’t too thrilled with how the regular season played out against bitter rival Acton-Boxboro, and come Monday, that sour taste propelled them.

Facing off for the sixth time over the last seven postseasons in a Div. 1 North quarterfinal, Grosso buried all three of his goals in a passionate first half that guided No. 5 L-S (11-2) to a 9-5 win over fourth-seeded A-B (11-2). Grosso led a field of four different players with multiple scores as the field buzzed with energy, pairing with a furious defensive effort that held a 5-0 shutout in the first half.

Acton-Boxboro put up a late rally to make things interesting in the fourth quarter, but that hot start, as well as sound play from Nolan O’Brien (seven saves) in net, was plenty for L-S to maintain its Div. 1 state title defense from 2019 and avenge its only two losses this year.

“It’s a big rivalry, a lot of chirping,” Grosso said. “This is more of a personal game, a personal rivalry. We did it for our coach, I think everyone played for each other. We came out firing from the beginning, just executed.”

Either L-S or A-B has won the Div. 1 North every year since 2014, so it wasn’t a surprise for head coach Brian Vona to draw the matchup. He also thought the Warriors came out of the gate exactly how they needed to.

As O’Brien put up a wall in front of the net and the defense suffocated most attempts to penetrate it, Grosso got into a groove early with all three of his goals coming in the first 19 minutes. L-S moved the ball well around the net to execute on offense throughout the rest of that first half, too, as goals from Collin Murphy and Hayden Donley made it 5-0 by halftime.

Considering A-B buried three goals in the fourth quarter to put a little pressure on L-S, that five-goal lead proved huge.

“We played them twice before, and (A-B) played great. We felt like we had more in both those games to give,” Vona said. “We did not focus on them today, we focused on us the last few days and that’s what we’re doing. I just feel like when we focus on us, we can do a lot.”

That focus did plenty, as L-S answered every retaliation A-B gave the rest of the way.

Two scores within an 8-second span from A-B’s Tyler Clayton and Sean Kelly cut the deficit to 6-2 midway through the third quarter, only for Andrew Toland to respond with two goals on his own before the frame ended. Graham Brady, Ryan Cho and Nick Moore each scored to cut it to 8-5 with 4 minutes remaining, but Donley buried a dagger with just over 2 minutes to go to extend it back to a four-goal lead.

Between Grosso, Donley, Murphy and Toland all registering multiple goals, that gave the defense enough rest to soar whenever the time called for it.

“When our offense gives our defense a chance to be fresh, that’s what they look like,” Vona said. “Just really happy for our guys.”