McMahon Eliminated In Class L Boys Lacrosse Tournament

A few hours before the school's senior prom, the Staples' boys lacrosse team booked a return trip to the CIAC Class L semifinals.

Peter Paul had four goals and an assist and goalkeeper J.B. Breig recorded 12 saves Saturday, leading the Wreckers to an 8-4 victory over McMahon in a physical contest in Westport.

Avenging a 10-7 regular-season loss to McMahon, the Wreckers (15-4) advanced to Wednesday's semifinal against Ridgefield, a 17-5 winner over Conard on Saturday.

"We put in a good zone defense," Paul said. "Our defense only left up four goals, which is great. We had different offenses that worked well against McMahon's 'D'"

The first half, however, was a low-scoring affair with the Wreckers holding a 4-2 lead at the intermission. Paul  registered two goals and Nick Maki and Charlie Ross one each in the first half for Staples.

"We got the looks we wanted," McMahon coach Mike Epstein said. "We didn't finish early and I think they got some confidence defensively. We got a little tired, we got a little nervous."  

According to Breig, the Staples' players talked about sporting mohawk haircuts for Saturday's game but decided it wouldn't be a good idea to show up to their prom looking like that.  Mohawks, however, haven't been ruled out for Wednesday.

"I think everyone was very focused on this game here because everyone wants to take it a step farther than we did last year (the Wreckers lost to Fairfield 9-8 in the semifinals), so I think (the prom) wasn't going to be an issue for us," Breig said.

Paul's bullet from inside the 30-yard line put the Wreckers ahead to stay at 3-2 with 6:37 remaining in the first half.

"We said this is one of the biggest games Staples has been in," Wreckers coach Paul McNulty. "It's a state game, we've already lost to them. We had a T-shirt that said respect isn't given, it's earned."

Staples certainly earned the Senators' respect Saturday, as the Wreckers shut down the Senators (13-6) behind a stifling defense and Brieg's strong play in goal. McNulty said it was the best game Brieg has played since he has been at Staples.

"He was tremendous," McNulty said. "They had some great shooters, and a lot of them were on their mark, where they wanted to shoot from, and he stopped them."

After McMahon tied the contest 2-2 with 10:18 left in the second quarter, the Senators scored only one goal until registering a meaningless marker in the final minute.

"We definitely controlled the ball," Breig said. "I think we set the tempo early and controlled when they had  possession. We came out and played solid 'D' the whole game."

The third quarter also was dominated by defense with McMahon's Scott McCormack scoring the only goal of the period with 2:41 left.

In the fourth period, Staples' offense finally came alive with the Wreckers scoring four straight goals -- two by Paul and one each by Ross and Kip Orban.

"All the credit to them," Epstein said. "I thought (McNulty) had a great defensive scheme. I thought his goalie played incredibly well. I thought (Matt) Yeager was unbelievable on the wings and just getting the ball out of the defensive end."

McCormack's tally with 43 seconds remaining ended a stretch in which the Wreckers surrendered only one goal in more than 33 minutes.

"The zone gets it so they can't take outside shots and sweep around like they did the first game, so they were't hitting their shots and we kept them off the goal," Paul said.

McNulty pointed to the play of short stick defenders Greg Lewis, Jared Levi and Greg Strauss, feeling they did a  much better job guarding the Senators this time.

"Those players are very key to your defense and they did a geat job," McNuilty said.

Ross finished with two goals for Staples while Maki and Orban each scored once. Jack Conroy and Drew D'Antonio tallied in the first half for McMahon.