Wilton Boys Lacrosse Overcomes Sloppy Performance To Beat McMahon

The final score did not reflect the emotions of Wilton High School boys lacrosse coach John Wiseman after his Warriors prevailed over McMahon, 10-4,  Tuesday afternoon. 

"We did not play our game today," Wiseman said bluntly. "It was a pretty poor performance."

Wilton and McMahon were mired in a defensive struggle through most of the first half that saw both teams suffer with possessions and turnovers.  Open teammates on both teams leaped skywards to corral wayward passes that killed off sustained attacks. 

Wilton, in particular, was plagued with turnovers in the offensive zone, passing up several scoring opportunities without getting open shots. 

These miscues resulted in two goals, one for each squad. Wilton, having opened the scoring in the first quarter on a tally by Connor Melillo, capitalized on excellent play in the midfield by John Andrews, who wrestled the ball away from a Senators attacker and found Mike Fancia open in front for a goal.

McMahon's response came after Wilton goalie Sam Sommers streaked toward the left sideline in an attempt to make a play on a long Senators' pass. However, Sommers was caught well out of position and made a futile diving attempt to prevent Senators attacker Jack Conroy from stuffing home the goal to cut the deficit to one.

The poor offensive showing by both teams was attributable in large part to excellent defense in both halves. 

McMahon, having survived several shots off its own crossbar, was picked up by superstar saves by goalie Luke Aubrey, who on two occasions prevented point blank goals that kept the Senators in the game.

Wilton benefited from outstanding play by the defensive trio of Chris Kachadoorian, Patrick Holland and Scott Thompson.  Thompson, especially, loomed large throughout the game - despite taking two penalties - and harassed McMahon's attackers all afternoon.  Their defensive aggressiveness continued into the second half with the Warriors holding a 2-1 lead.

Melillo opened the scoring for the Warriors in the second half with a great shot that beat Aubrey to the right.  Despite the early score, sloppy play continued to plague both teams. The Senators seemed to get the better scoring chances, but were unable to convert. 

Just ahead of the six minute mark, Francia, a standout attacker, made a great pass to Michael Serpa, who fired top shelf to put the Warriors ahead 4-1.

This was just the beginning for Francia, as less than two minutes later he found Michael Greco, who again scored high on Aubrey.

The onslaught did not sedate the Senators' attack, but it seemed to lull Wilton into a false sense of security.

In the closing minute of the third quarter, McMahon scored twice on goals by Gable Nardi-Huffman and Zack Bartolo to pull within 5-3.

Going into the last period of play, McMahon clearly was the more aggressive team and a vocal crowd at Fujitani Field urged the Warriors to respond.  With just over five minutes to play, that call seemed to go unheeded, as Nardi-Huffman scored an unassisted goal to make it a one-score game. 

As much as that goal energized the Senators, it awoke Wilton, which responded the way championship teams should.  In the last five minutes, the Warriors scored five goals, burying the visiting Senators to close out the contest.

Goals by Francia, Andrews, Chris Nugent and Sean Carroll capped off the impressive response by the home squad, which clearly wanted to make a statement after a lackluster showing for most of the afternoon.

Heading into Thursday's important matchup with Darien, Wiseman had no illusions as to what Wilton needs to bring to the gate. 

"We have to take the positives out of it," he said. "We were getting the openings, obviously the offensive production got where it needed to be.

"But there were still plenty of one-on-ones we missed, plenty of opportunities. We're getting the right looks but we have to finish, though. You have to pass and catch in this game."