Palumbo, Hand push past Trojans

WESTON — On a day when the heat and humidity took its toll on players from both teams, Daniel Hand rode a torrid second quarter and a hot secondhalf goalie performance into the Class M boys lacrosse semifinals.

Senior captain Nate Palumbo had four goals and two assists while junior goalie Griffin Fitzmaurice made seven of his nine saves in the second half as the sixth- seeded Tigers defeated third- seeded Weston 11- 4 in a Saturday afternoon quarterfinal.

“That was a whole team effort, which was really good for us,” Palumbo said. “Our goalie, our middies, everybody. We played great today.”

The Tigers, now 14- 5, will face second- seeded Waterford on Wednesday at a neutral site.

Hand led 4- 3 after the first quarter, but two goals — one by Palumbo, the other by Jack Flanagan — just 41 seconds apart sparked a five- goalie rally by the Tigers.

Flanagan ( 3 goals, 2 assists) added a second goal, Thomas Swank scored and Palumbo capped the run, giving the Tigers a 9- 3 lead.

“Our attack just attacked in front of the cage,” Hand coach John Orlando said. “We found our guys and we finished our opportunities.”

Weston’s Ryan Werner scored at the halftime buzzer, making it a five- goal game, but giving the Trojans some momentum going into the second half.

It was Fitzmaurice and his defensive corps, however, that made sure Weston wouldn’t get back into the game.

“It was a huge confidence boost, getting that lead,” Fitzmaurice said. “We were communicating really well on defense, calling out picks. We just got on them.”

A two- year starter for Hand, Fitzmaurice was between the pipes for last year’s title game loss to New Canaan.

He made four saves in the third quarter, including an impressive pipe- to- pipe body save on Weston’s Jake Buffardi, who appeared to have an open look at the goal.

“( Werner) had the ball top right and slid a pass over,” Fitzmaurice said. “I tried to pick it off, but instead was able to get my foot on it. They teach us to go post to post.”

Three more saves in the fourth quarter cemented the win.

“We played really well defensively,” Orlando noted, pointing out the Tigers gave up just one goal over the final 39 minutes of play.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Split it between Palumbo and Fitzmaurice for their two halves of play.

Palumbo on the offensive end helping to spark the big lead and Fitzmaurice for finishing it in goal.