Malden Boys Lax Falls to Arlington

The Malden High boys lacrosse team hosted Arlington on Monday in a rematch of an April 30 meeting between the two teams. The Spy Ponders beat Malden, 10-2 in that game, and made it a season sweep with a 12-5 win on Monday. 

Despite the loss, head coach Brenden Maney was encouraged by what he saw from his Golden Tornadoes. 

“The offense is starting to get good looks at the cage,” said Maney. “Early on Arlington scored a few quick goals, and instead of Malden allowing the wheels to fall off the bus, they dug in and answered with a couple of goals of their own.”

“In the past we were not able to do that,” added Maney. “Certainly not against a team like Arlington.  They are mentally tougher now than at the start of the season.”

Sophomore Paul Kiernan scored two goals and had one assist to lead Malden, while junior Dan Glynn scored a pair of goals as well and junior midfielder Nate Urban scored off a pass from Devin Fitzpatrick behind the cage. 

Sophomore goalie TJ Ruddock started his first varsity game after regular goalie Stanley Chen missed the game with an illness. 

“TJ stepped right in and played outstanding all game long,” said Maney. “He made a few saves that were of the door step variety.  He made 11 saves in all, in what turned out to be too much offense for him to turn back.”

Maney was also impressed with the way his defense has been playing. 

“The team defense during the game was improved,” said Maney. “They are starting to play together, trusting each other to do their job.  The better they play as a team on defense the easier it is for them to play on ball defense."