Greenwich pulls away from Ludlowe late
FAIRFIELD — For a while it didn’t look like a boys lacrosse game between two teams one spot apart in the poll.
But Fairfield Ludlowe adjusted in the third quarter to make it a game before No. 8 Greenwich pulled away from the No. 9 Falcons, topping the hosts 11-6 on Saturday at Taft Field.
“We got off to a hot start, but we kind of let them creep back in, which is not what we want to let them do,” Greenwich senior attackman Bryce Metalios said.
“Our guys stepped up when we needed them to. Quinn (Warwick) had a great day at the faceoff X. Charlie (Zola) made some big saves.”
Zola was credited with six stops. Warwick won all but three draws, and he scored two goals and assisted on another in the fourth quarter for Greenwich (9-3).
“The goal was to come here and show how good we can be, but they’re a great team, so it was only a matter of time before they started battling back a bit,” Greenwich coach Bobby Lutz said. “They made some great adjustments, and then we had to make adjustments.”
Greenwich led 6-0 before Ludlowe (9-4) got one before halftime. The Falcons tweaked their attack against Greenwich’s zone, made better passes and cut it to 6-5 after three and 7-6 early in the fourth.
“We shot ourselves in the foot early in the game, made too many mistakes and dug too deep a hole,” Falcons coach Steve Swett said.
“Looking back, we know we need to clean things up early so we don’t need to panic and make these adjustments in second half.
We hope to play a complete game, and today, we really didn’t.”
Warwick kept winning draws, the Cardinals took better care of the ball and finished it off strong.
The teams have held their spots two weeks in a row in the GameTimeCT Boys Lacrosse Top 10 Poll.
Ludlowe is running the gauntlet a bit at the moment, losing 12-7 to No. 4 Ridgefield on Thursday; No. 1 Darien is next this coming Thursday. (Greenwich will have Wilton and Darien to close the regular season.)
“We’re looking forward to Darien and then finishing off the season well,” Swett said, “making those adjustments in practice so we can come fired up for FCIAC, hopefully, and state playoffs.”
Greenwich senior attackman Bryce Metalios continued his fine season with four goals.
Fairfield Ludlowe defender Finn Hoey forced at least a half-dozen turnovers, including three in sequence late in the first half, helping keep the Cardinals in sight as the Falcons built a comeback.
“It was more a battle of adjustments than just the kids just battling on the field. It was fun to coach — especially when you come out on top.” — Greenwich coach Bobby Lutz