Hamilton explodes past rival Nottingham

HAMILTON » The Hamilton West boys lacrosse team graduated three midfielders last spring who amassed 86 goals and 42 assists and are all playing Division III this year.

And yet, the offense is the least of coach Roc Azzarello’s worries.

The Hornets exploded for a 17-2 victory over visiting Nottingham Monday, getting a combined 12 goals and six assists from its attack line. Sophomore Liam Bartram and junior Kevin Novak each had five goals and one assist, while senior Declan Bartram — Liam’s brother — had two goals and four assists.

“I lost my three big middies,” Azzarello said. “We had a lot of guys leave from the senior class. But the one unit that’s returning is attack. We’re looking for the Bartrams to have chemistry as brothers along with Novak. We’re looking for those guys to dominate attack. They played a lot together last year. They had the seniors getting most of the notoriety, but they scored goals. This is their year. We’re happy about the attack.”

It’s easy to see why. Hamilton (2-0) has outscored its first two opponents, 29-2, and has been on the positive side of a second-half running clock for the first two times in program history. The Hornets are coming off a 9-8 season and state tournament appearance in Azzarello’s first year, and the players hope to build off that.

“Last year helped a lot,” Declan Bartram said. “Since we got that far we realized how (top tier) teams play and how much faster they are than us. So we’ve got a better example to build on, and just get stronger and better.”

Conversely, Nottingham (0-2) has struggled out of the gate with an inexperienced squad, but will only get better under the guidance of veteran coach Leo Mahon, who is in his first season guiding the Northstars.

But the Stars could not withstand an early burst from Hamilton as Declan Bartram set up Novak and his brother for an early 2-0 lead, before John Stines, Liam Bartram and Nick Derrico tallied to make it 5-0 after one quarter.

“I didn’t think we would come out this strong,” Declan Bartram said. “But going into the first quarter we scored a couple quick goals and I guess that kind of got us amped up and got us in the flow off things.”

Jason Toledo scored the first of his two goals to pull Nottingham within 5-1, but the Hornets responded with four straight to take a 9-1 lead at the half. Another five in the third quarter put the running clock in effect and West continued to roll.

“We’re working,” Azzarello said. “A lot of new guys are stepping up, a lot of freshmen. Everybody’s getting a shot. We’ve had a good opportunity to build to the meat of the schedule, which starts on Friday with Steinert. And then New Brunswick and then off to Lawrence.

“We’re working it good, moving the ball around. Lots of guys are getting touches, we’re being aggressive shooting.”

Nottingham (0-2) Hamilton (2-0) Goals —

Toledo 2 (N). Novak 5, LBartram 5, DBartram 2, Kathcart 2, Derrico, Stines, Marano (H).

DBartram 4, Gachetti 2, Novak, LBartram, Kathcart, Ekiz, Fitzpatrick, Angeles (H).

6 (N). 25 (H).

Assists — Shots — Saves — 0 5 1 4 0 5 1 — 3 —

O’Lone 8 (N). Lumpkin 4 (H).

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Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @Fish4scores