Witches hold on against ’Birds

GREENWICH — Forgive Greenwich boys lacrosse’s team members and coaches for thinking they may have been in a time warp on Tuesday night.

Earlier this season, the Witches held a considerable lead in the final minutes at Voorheesville, only to see the Blackbirds come all the way back to steal a victory. Tuesday night, the Witches held a 13-5 lead in the third quarter, and true to form, Voorheesville fought back.

This time, though, Greenwich held on, preserving a 15-12 win on the program’s Senior Night.

“It was the same sort of obstacles as the last game ( against Voorheesville),” Greenwich head coach Bob Sipperly said. “We were up five goals with three and a half minutes left and we lost, so we were trying to avoid that happening again.”

Greenwich ( 4- 6) led 5- 3 after the first quarter, but surged ahead with a 6- 1 run that stretched into the second half. Later in the

third quarter, Glen Taylor, who led the Witches with eight points on the evening, scored one of his six goals while being leveled by a horde of Blackbird defenders in front of the cage, giving the home team a 13- 5 advantage with 6:04 left in the period.

“Ground balls were the key to us getting going,” Sipperly said. “We were connecting, we were catching and throwing.

“Glen tends to control the ball for a lot of the game, being the faceoff guy. He’s got decent vision, and he’s got a good shot. The guys are looking for him, and I think that’s a big part of it.”

It was then, though, that the tide began to turn. Voorheesville (3-8) reeled off four consecutive goals to get back in the game, and two more early in the fourth quarter made it a 14-11 game with 9:36 to go.

“We had a lot of mental mistakes,” Sipperly said. “Missing ground balls, and instead of possessing the ball, forcing it inside and turning the ball over too many times.”

Taylor, however, stopped the run with his final goal of the game at the eight- minute mark. While Voorheesville answered with 3: 22 to play, the Witches were able to control ball posses- sion as the clock ticked down, ultimately resulting in Greenwich’s second win in their last three games.

Garret Carega added three goals and three assists for the Witches, while goalie Adam Thomas stopped 16 shots in the win. Voorheesville’s Ben Wilson had a teamhigh five points on four goals and an assist, and Scott Gregg finished with a hat trick of his own in the losing effort.

With the victory, the Witches can still finish at .500 on the 2013 campaign. To do so, Greenwich needs wins over Maple Hill Thursday and Lansingburgh next Tuesday. It may be a tall order, but Sipperly said the momentum that a strong finish would produce could do wonders in the Section II tournament.

“It’s definitely going to help,” he said. “I beat it into their heads as much as I can, but it’s all about execution. If they can execute, we can win games. If they don’t execute, we’re not going to.”