Westford Academy Boys’ Lacrosse won a tight matchup against Winchester on Tuesday, June 3, that ended in a close score of 13-11. This advances the team deeper into the playoffs as they enter the round of eight.
During the first face-off of the game, Winchester won possession and quickly ran it down to WA’s side of the field. After a shot on goal that bounced off the post, sophomore CJ Hammond picked up the ground ball and hustled to Winchester’s defense. A few minutes of intense offense by WA and strong defense by Winchester resulted in a struggle for the ball which was eventually brought across the field by Winchester to score the first point of the game.
In the second half of the first quarter, WA attempted multiple shots on Winchester’s goal that were blocked. However, senior Quinn Reynolds was able to sneak through Winchester’s tight defense and scored WA’s first goal, tying the game 1-1. Despite the Ghosts’ aggression on the field, Winchester answered their goal within the last two minutes of the first quarter and scored three consecutive goals, leaving WA trailing 4-1.
“In the first quarter we were getting good looks on offense but the shots just weren’t going in,” sophomore Chase Boynton said. “As the game went on, we started to hit them, and our defense was able to hold off some good players.”
About a minute into the second quarter, Reynolds snuck through Winchester’s defense and made it into the goal yet again, upping the score to 4-2. After a series of passes around the goal, senior captain Jack Donovan saw a lane and took it, securing another point for WA.
Now just trailing by one point, sophomore James O’Toole made a vital interception, allowing WA to call a timeout. Following the huddle, Donovan started with the ball and swiftly passed it around Winchester’s defense. After several passes, the ball found its way into senior captain Nick Burns’s pocket and quickly into the back of the net, tying the game 4-4 with 5:56 left in the quarter. With another point on the board for both teams and multiple saves by WA’s goalie, senior captain Ryan Campbell, the first half ended with a score of 6-5, leaving WA in the lead.
“We settled into the game, and calmed down which helped our offense go on a streak, relieving some stress off the defense,” Donovan said.
Starting the second half, WA came out strong, yet again upping their lead to 7-5 after a goal by Burns. Although the next few minutes were spent with WA on alert, playing defense against their opponents, they did not allow Winchester to close in on their lead. With two goals by senior captain Finn McKeon in the middle of the third quarter, WA increased their lead to 9-5, still warding off Winchester to prevent them from getting the ball in the net.
Intense hustle by both teams left the points deadlocked at 9-5 until Winchester made their first goal of the second half, tightening the score to 9-6. Nevertheless, McKeon’s hat trick goal with 18 seconds left in the quarter pulled WA back into a four-point lead.
Settling into the final quarter, WA held their lead, even increasing their score to 12 with two goals by Donovan. However, a lag in WA’s defense allowed Winchester to sneak in and score three consecutive goals, encroaching on WA’s six-point lead. After a timeout with four minutes left in the game, Winchester came out and gained yet another goal, bringing the score to 12-10. WA’s strong defense was able to hold Winchester off for a few minutes, but not before Winchester scored again with only 49 seconds left in the game, leaving the score to a singular point difference.
After a struggle for possession on the face-off, WA came up with the ball and took a timeout with 26 seconds left in the game. Coming back from the timeout, WA was focused, and it paid off after an around-the-crease goal by Donovan secured the win for WA. The game ended in a score of 13-11.
“We knew that we had to hold the ball on offense and lock down on defense,” Donovan said. “We did a really good job of focusing on what needed to be done in order to hold onto the lead.”
WA’s victory against Winchester allows them to move on to the round of eight in the playoffs, where they will play an away game against Saint John’s Preparatory School in Danvers on Saturday, June 7, at 11:00 a.m.
“Going into this game we are confident in our abilities and we will be preparing as much as possible in the next few days,” Boynton said. “We believe in ourselves and each other and [we] need to play 100% all 48 minutes to win this [next] game.”
