By Elizabeth Crowley, Ashley Swenson, and Chad Reynolds — Lacrosse Contributors
The Concord-Carlisle girls lacrosse team secured two additional victories last week, boosting its ranking from #8 to #3 as of May 10.
The CC girls blanketed the Westford Ghosts on May 7 at Westford, 15-5, and the Wayland Warriors on May 9 at home, 14-7. More than 20 Concord-Carlisle Youth Lacrosse players came out to cheer on the CCHS team in the Wayland matchup.
On Saturday, May 11, the CC girls faced their most formidable opponent yet in the 13-1, division-leading Central Catholic.
At the half the score was tied 6-6; after the third, CC trailed 6-8; and at the final whistle, CC fell 8-10.
Senior Captain Willow Cyr led the attack with four goals, and the CC defensive squad of senior Captain Anna Crowley, senior Hadley Swenson, junior Alissa Bono, and ninth-grader Avery Swenson worked together to contain offensive threats, as they have all season.
CC is back at home against Weston (#1 in Division 4 rankings) on Thursday.
The girls junior varsity team challenged a talented Central Catholic JV squad, coming away with a 7-10 loss.
Boys lacrosse action
Last Tuesday afternoon, Westford Academy got going early against Concord-Carlisle and hung on after the Patriots’ second-half surge.
In the first quarter, Ryan Fivek got CC on the board with the game’s first goal, but Westford quickly answered. Strong defense by Derek Labadini, Hayes Gardiner, Stoddard Healy, and long stick middies Ryan DeMayo and Sam Griswold helped slow the Westford offense.
Back-and-forth action and a few solid Westford goals put the visitors up 3-1.
In the first quarter, Jed Cain had a shot bounce off the pipe but came back a few minutes later to notch his first goal of the day before Westford scored twice more to go up 5-2.
At halftime, possessions were even. Both teams generated shots, but the visitors did a better job of converting. CC took advantage of a man-up opportunity early in the second half on a Jed Cain goal assisted by Ryan Fivek to bring the score to 5-3.
CC built momentum in the second half with a string of faceoff wins by Chris Bono, leading to back-to-back Fivek goals to tie the game. With momentum shifting to the home team, Cain scored off an Eric Palmer assist to go up 6-5. Westford scored two more goals with shots right on the crease, which made things tough for goalie Kal Lonergan.
Westford dominated the transition game and used fast break opportunities to stretch the lead to 9-6. However, CC continued to generate shots, with Cain hitting his third pipe of the day.
Showing the CC boys weren’t done, Matthew Carleton connected from deep with four minutes left, making it 9-7. Griswold added a wrinkle at the faceoff circle and created some unsettled situations.
Carleton made a heads-up play after a great ground ball and found freshman Alex Fivek, who buried the opportunity to bring CC within one goal with three minutes left.
Bono did his part in the waning minutes and won another faceoff, giving CC the ball. The Patriots generated a few good looks but couldn’t find the back of the net, and Westford outlasted the Patriots, 9-8.
On Wednesday, the boys traveled to Wayland, came out firing, and handled the opponent 15-5.
A fiery Friday night
The boys closed the week with an 11-10 overtime thriller against visiting Dover Sherborn. The CC boys jumped out early with a goal from Cain, but the visiting team was ready and answered quickly. John Anderson put CC up 2-1 on a feed from Ryan Fivek, thanks to an aggressive all-hands ride.
CC let up a few quick goals as the first quarter ended and started the second quarter down 4-2. A huge save by Lonergan prevented CC from going down another goal right away, but DS kept up the pressure and stretched their lead to 6-2 before CC turned the pressure back on.
After a Matias Bout score, Bono won a clean faceoff and took the ball straight to the goal, making it 7-4. DS notched another goal before Anderson scored with 45 seconds left in the half on a gutsy take from behind the goal, bringing it to 8-5.
Palmer added to the list of CC goal contributors and brought CC within a goal after a loose ball pickup and feed from midfielder James Boyle. After trading goals, Carleton buried a shot to bring the game to a 9-9 tie.
The Patriots’ defense was stout, and Lonergan continued to make key saves to keep the game close. The defense held off a DS man-up possession, and the offense was able to keep play at the other end of the field, creating numerous scoring chances.
CC was unable to capitalize on a late-game man-up possession, and after a long scrum for a loose ball, DS popped one in and took the lead 10-9 with 2:40 left to play.
Carleton was the man of the hour, tying the game 10-10 with a minute left.
CC was again able to create more scoring opportunities as the clock expired, but DS held them off, forcing the game to overtime. The opponent gained possession and ended the game with a goal early in the sudden-death overtime.
