Hanover Surges Past Cohasset in D3 South Final

By Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports)

MARSHFIELD, Mass. -- When a team controls play from the faceoff circle, it will likely be reflected in the final outcome. It certainly was for the Hanover High boys’ lacrosse team in the Division 3 South final at Marshfield High on Friday evening.

Indians (16-4) freshman midfielder Caleb Hammett, who is verbally committed to the United States Military Academy (better known as Army) won 17 of the 23 faceoffs he took which helped propel his team to an 11-9 win over the Cohasset Skippers.

Down 2-1 to start the second quarter, the Indians continued playing hard and midway through, their luck turned. In a 53 second span, they put up four goals, giving themselves a three-goal lead. Michael McGlame started the run with 6:39 remaining; he tomahawked in a score with 6:39 remaining in the half to tie it at two goals apiece. Then, Hammett won the faceoff and from there, Neil Calkin (3 goals) rushed downfield and put up a goal just nine seconds after McGlame’s score, giving the Indians the lead.

With 6:08 left in the half, an unguarded Benjamin Fein capitalized on his chance and gave the Indians an insurance goal and shortly after him, Calkin scored again, and he was assisted by Timothy Mullane.

“All those goals started with Hammett on the face off,” head coach Paul Zaylor said, in reference to his faceoff man. “If I had to give out a game ball, it would go to him.”

“I saw a lot of fast break opportunities,” Hammett added. “I read the wings and got the ball to Abdullah (Nassif) and Neil (Calkin) and they put it in the back of the net for us.”

At halftime, the Indians led, 7-3 and after a tightly-contested third quarter, they took a 9-5 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, however, the Indians lead began to diminish. Kyle McFetridge put up three of his four goals of the game for the Skippers in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. During that span, Abdullah Nassif was able to put up a goal for the Indians, which meant they led 10-8 with four minutes remaining.

With 2:44 remaining, a wide open Will Thomas scored for the Skippers, making it a one-goal game. But less than a minute later, 

Indians midfielder Connor Morris scored on a draw, assisted by attacker Timothy Mullane, giving them an insurance goal.

“That was the dagger,” Zaylor said of the goal, “We feel like when we’re up by two goals, we can run the clock down comfortably.”. 

In net, Michael Nassif recorded 15 saves for the Indians.

The Indians advance to face Ipswich in the Division 3 State Semifinals at a South location. The time and date are still to be determined.