'Cats Off to Fast Start with 9-2 Victory over Canton

After shaking off nine days of rust, the No. 2 Weston High School boys lacrosse team started its offensive machine Saturday and drove it to a 9-2 victory over No. 15 Canton in the Division 3 East Sectional first round.

“It was a good start for us for the tournament,” said Wildcats head coach Jim Wilcon. “You know, we hadn’t played in a while, so it took us a while to get into it.”

He continued, “Give credit to Canton, they did a nice job of playing zone defense and of packing it in. Their goalie made some good saves. So it took us a while to get into rhythm offensively. Defensively, I thought we played really well.”

Weston (17-2) now faces No. 7 Arlington Catholic (17-4) in the quarterfinals Monday.

Neither team could find the back of the net for the first two-thirds of the opening quarter, but during that stretch Wildcat Joey Pasquale had two solid scoring opportunities--one that ricochet off the top post and the other saved by Bulldog netminder Devin Costa.  

Pasquale was finally able to beat Costa at the 2:58 mark when he received a pass from Kyle Nickerson and scored. That jump-started the machine rolling and the Wildcats added another tally less than two minutes later as Matt Knight scored on a 20-foot shot.

Weston entered the second quarter with a 2-0 lead and quickly augmented it. Knight relayed the ball to Todd Brackett, who beat Costa high right just 32 seconds into the period.  

The two teams traded goals before Pasquale tallied his second of the game giving the Wildcats the 5-1 advantage. Pasquale would finish the contest with a game-high four goals.

“Joey is one of the better players in the state offensively,” said Wilcon. “He just adds another dimension to our team. Last year, he was more just a scorer, but this year he is a scorer and a giver.”

With 29 seconds left in the half, the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 5-2 when Ben Lodge netted a tally, but that would be the last goal they would score as the Wildcats’ defense clamped down.

The Wildcats’ offense continued to produce, even when it was at a disadvantage as Andrew Jarrett scored during a man-down possession in the third quarter. Moments later, teammate Stephen Iodice used his long pole to rifle a shot past Costa. From there, Weston cruised to the 9-2 victory.