Westford Academy Boys’ Lacrosse kicked off their season by beating Groton-Dunstable Regional High School (GDRHS) 14-6 on Saturday, March 29, starting their season record off strong 1-0.
Throughout the game, the weather slowly worsened, starting with only rain but turning into a slight snowfall. WA showed resilience by holding strong on offense and staying in the lead throughout the entirety of the game. With these attributes, as well as the team’s training in practice and leadership from captains, WA easily secured their win over Groton-Dunstable.
“Our captains did a great job leading by example, they’ve all been working very hard leading up to this,” WA Boys’ Lacrosse coach Scott Corcoran said. “They were focused and they got the job done.”
The Ghosts came out firing right off the bat with multiple early shots on goal and a two successful goals in the first two minutes from senior captains Finn McKeon and Nick Burns.
Sophomore Luke Burgess, junior Peter Burns, senior Quinn Reynolds, Nick Burns, and McKeon were all key players offensively with Reynolds scoring with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter. Senior Ben Burgess and senior captain and goalie Ryan Campbell did a good job on the defensive side holding out against the GDRHS offense, blocking many attempted goals throughout the quarter.
“I think the team’s mindset going into the game was unlike ever before,” Reynolds said. “We knew we needed to start the season off strong and I think we showed that.”
With five minutes remaining in the quarter, a timeout was called. However, the team came out right where they left off with an assist from Reynolds to L. Burgess, increasing their lead 3-0.
WA continued with the offensive rushes and shots on goal with Nick Burns and freshman Liam Flanagan scoring in the last few minutes of the quarter, closing it out with a 6-0 lead.
WA kept their rhythm going into the second quarter with Luke Burgess coming out aggressive. GDRHS tried picking it up on the offensive side, but Ben Burgess and sophomores James O’Toole and Nick Vidoli held them at bay with strong defense.
With only three minutes remaining in the quarter, McKeon scored, but GDRHS quickly reciprocated and scored their first goal of the game. WA finished off the first half leading 7-1.
Neither team let up offensively in the second half, although the Ghosts had to use their defensive skills a little more in this quarter than than in the previous ones. There was an early goal from Reynolds followed up by a GDRHS goal just a minute into the quarter.
GDRHS started picking up their defense, stopping a couple of WA’s plays as well as scoring with seven minutes remaining in the quarter.
WA continued to execute strong plays with McKeon scoring after an assist from Nick Burns, but GDRHS gave it right back, scoring less than 20 seconds later.
After many shots on goal from Flanagan, and an intercepted ground ball by sophomore Chase Poynton that led to a goal for sophomore Declan Hevey, a timeout was called with only a couple minutes remaining in the quarter. The Ghosts closed out the quarter strong, increasing their lead 10-4 after Nick Burns passed it to McKeon to drill in another goal.
GDRHS did not let up for the last quarter, but WA’s defense and Campbell in goal continued to hold them. Halfway through the quarter, Reynolds scored twice in the span of two minutes, increasing the Ghosts’ lead against GDRHS.
Campbell continued to make great saves in goal as P. Burns scored a “Behind-The-Back” shot, a difficult play that involved P. Burns throwing the ball over his opposite shoulder. This was followed by Flanagan scoring after an assist from Luke Burgess. WA continued to hold their ground. Even so, with only three minutes remaining with 10 seconds left, Groton-Dunstable shot their final goals of the game. However, this was not enough to catch up to WA and ended the home opener with a 14-6 score.
“I thought we had a great game as a team, but I think overall the biggest thing was taking care of the ball and having less turnovers, which we will work on moving forward,” Reynolds said.
WA Boys’ Lacrosse will now direct their focus to their first away game on Tuesday, April 1 against Andover High School at 7 p.m.
