Patriot attack too much for Knights

The North Andover boys lacrosse team fell to Concord-Carlisle 8-2 yesterday afternoon at White Field in a Division 2 first round game.

The loss ends the Knights’ season with a record of 11-9.

North Andover showed no fear early against the second-seeded Patriots. They were able to get several good looks against Concord goalie Doug Gouchoe, but the junior was able to turn aside everything and keep the Knights at bay.

“They’re defense is excellent,” North Andover coach Steve Connolly said. “They had three excellent long poles and two long-pole middies. They’re fast, athletic, and well-coached. They got a great team.”

Concord scored midway through the first to take the early lead before exploding for four goals in the second to extend the lead to five by the half. North Andover had plenty of chances to score but Gouchoe was always able to stop the ball before it crossed the line.

After extending the lead to 7-0 after three, the Knights finally struck when sophomore Nick Pino fired one home 4:32 into the fourth quarter. Pino would score again 3:30 later, but it was nowhere near enough to close the gap.

“He played pretty well for us today,” Connolly said of Pino. “But it’s not just scoring goals. It’s riding and finding ground balls and seeing the open guy.”

For the six seniors on the team, it was the last time they would wear the Scarlet and Black, and Connolly was thankful for having coached them.

“The seniors were great,” Connolly said. “Our six guys took all these young guys and put them on their back, and we had a good season. Thank you for the effort.”

The Knights will return most of their starters and role players from this year’s team and look poised to improve upon their 11-9 record in 2012.