By Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports)
COHASSET - At halftime, much of the hometown crowd walked to their cars, drove away and didn't come back. They didn't need to see the rest.
In the second half, the PA system went silent, the starters sat and the No. 3 Cohasset High boys' lacrosse team (16-6) counted down the minutes until they had officially advanced in their playoff bracket following their 19-3 win over Abington (14-5) in the MIAA Division 3 South Quarterfinals on Monday night. It was a strong performance that was in no way derailed by the wet field conditions.
“Abington likes the bad weather,” Skippers head coach James Beaudoin said. “They play well in it. We knew we had to be ready and not let that bother us. Luckily, it was just a light mist in our small fishing village. It was perfect for us.”
From the start, the Skippers dominated possession time. They won the opening faceoff and, while it took them nearly three minutes of strategic passing and a couple of missed shots, the Skippers put up the first score of the game with 8:38 left in the first quarter. Junior midfielder Noah Froio fired the ball at the Green Waves goalkeeper, which he stopped, but the ball the hit the ground and rolled back into the net. It was the first of the Skippers' seven goals of the quarter.
Of the Skippers' 14 first half scores, six came from junior attacker Ryan Donovan, including the second goal of the game, which he launched in sidearm about a minute and a half after Froio's goal.
After Froio scored another goal that deflected off the Green Waves goalkeeper and junior midfielder Will Thomas put one in from the 20-yard line, Donovan closed out the first quarter with three straight goals in a two minute span. His second goal of the span came with 30 seconds left in the first quarter and it came on a second chance scoring opportunity. Junior attacker Kyle McFetridge had the initial shot. By the end of the first quarter, the Skippers led 7-0.
Donovan also put up his fourth straight score three minutes into the second quarter, off a pass from Thomas.
Despite the six goals from Donovan, the Skippers spread out the ball well and passed frequently before finding their shots on net.
“Knowing that Abington was going to be in the zone, we couldn’t just dodge and shoot,” Beaudoin said. “We couldn’t rely on one person. The philosophy all year has been you’ve just gotta keep moving the ball until the right person gets the right shot. It doesn’t matter what their number is.”
“The assist has been been huge for us this year. In the past, we had guys doing what I call ‘hero dodges’ where they’d try to get around two guys and shoot,” he added. “We’re too deep this year to have to do that. We can play the right way.”
By halftime, the Skippers led 14-0.
Beaudoin noted his Skippers received strong play from their faceoff man, freshman midfielder Tucker Fulton.
With the win, the Skippers will face No. 2 Cardinal Spellman on the road on Wednesday, June 7 in the Div. 3 Semifinals.
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