Generals Boys Lacrosse Starts Strong In 17-4 Playoff Win

The first 90 seconds was a microcosm of the game.

Hamilton-Wenham junior Eliott Burr took the opening faceoff, sprinted down the field and uncorked a shot that got past Bishop Connolly goalie Dalton Revis, nine seconds into the game. Then sophomore Eddie Frick fended off a Cougars player and doubled the lead only 1:06 later. One and a half minutes would elapse before the visitors from Fall River would even get possession.

The rest of the game was pretty much the same – the Generals winning most of the one-on-one battles, showing more talent than the visitors, and taking advantage of mistakes – resulting in a 17-4 victory in a first round Div. 3 boys lacrosse matchup Friday at the high school.

Hamilton-Wenham (12-5) now travels to league foe North Reading on Monday at 5 p.m.

“Before the game the coach said it was important to win the ground balls right off the bat,” said Burr, who finished with five goals, four of them in the first half when fifth-seeded Hamilton-Wenham grabbed a 12-3 cushion. “We took it to heart and we got at them.”

After Burr and Frick (four goals) both netted their second tallies of the game, freshman Matt Curran scored on a bouncer from 15 feet out to push the lead to 5-0 only 4:31 into the contest, a strong start for a team that hadn’t played in 10 days.

“We had a lot of rest but our team came out hungry, willing and eager to play,” said Generals coach Jim LaSelva. “That’s a testament to our kids. It was nice to jump out on them right away.”

The 21st-seeded Cougars (10-8), which advanced to the first round with an upset of No. 12 Tri-County, looked as they would make a game of it by cutting the lead to four, 6-2, and getting a four minute power player after an Hamilton-Wenham player was caught with an illegal stick and glove at the end of the first period.

However, the Generals defense yielded only one tally, and then scored five goals in less than four minutes, for a commanding 11-3 bulge.

Senior Jimmy Brao, senior Nick Vogues, junior Stephan Tam and junior Michael Spearing stood tall in front of goalie Luke Drieze, who helped his own cause on many occasions during the game by grabbing a shot or loose ball and sprinting up the field to start the attack.

“Our defense has been a catalyst all year,” said Burr. “When we are in a pinch they bail us out.

“(Killing the penalties) were important because we were only up four goals and they could have scored a couple to make it close.”

Bishop Connolly coach Justin Shay - whose team made the trek from the Southeastern Massachusetts one day after consecutive hour-long trips to finish a weather-interrupted preliminary round game – tipped his hat to the host team.

“They shut down our original offense and took advantage of our mistakes,” he said. “They are a great team and they deserved to win.”

Just in case the Cougars had any ideas to close the gap in the second half the defense shut them out in the third quarter while the offense continued to roll – Burr, sophomore Trevor Lyons, Tam, Sam Martinez and Tad Decatur found the back of the net once each for a 17-3 lead at the end of three periods.

Martinez scored three times and Tam twice, to join Burr and Frick as multiple goal scorers.