By Michael Abelson (@ABELS0N)
Peabody, Mass. - It was a thorough domination by the Cohasset boys lacrosse team, as the Skippers rolled past Austin Prep, 18-5, in the Eastern Massachusetts Division III lacrosse semifinal at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The Skippers surrendered the first two goals of the game before rattling off seven in a row and cruising the rest of the way.
“Our offense was really clicking,” Cohasset senior Will Thomas said. “They went into a zone in the second quarter and we picked it apart. Saw the crease guy. We definitely got our shots off. It turned out well”
As has been the case for much of the season, the Skippers were led by brothers Will and Gray Thomas. Will, a senior middie, was dialed in with the ball in his crosse, and put up five goals and an assist. His younger brother Gray, a sophomore, was a dynamo with two goals and four assists including a pair of ridiculous rockets that picked corners.
Cohasset got three goals and two assists from senior attack Ryan Donovan. Junior middie Chris Longo had a goal and three assists. Senior middie Kyle Mcfetridge had a pair of goals as well.
“It’s been like that all year,” Cohasset coach James Beaudoin said. “We’ve got 80, 70, 70, 70, 60, 60, [points]. That’s our point distribution for those first six guys. That’s how you win games. You can’t have just one or two guys. We love the fact that they’re unselfish, moving the ball. I think that’s the reason we’re where we are.”
The Skipper offense was aided by the team’s hustle. Cohasset won ground balls 22-11 and turned Austin Prep over 16 times while just turning the ball over six times. Cohasset outshot Austin Prep 43-10.
Add in a 16-9 faceoff advantage and the Skippers were able to dictate almost the entire game and not allow Austin’s offense to get any type of rhythm.
Cohasset led 4-2 after a quarter, and 10-3 at haltime.
The Cougars did score twice in the opening 86 seconds, thanks to a pair of goals from sophomore Michael Chabra, who finished with a hat trick, but that was just about all the Cougars could cheer about offensively. Junior goalie Jimmy Theriault did make eight saves, despite facing a Skipper onslaught.
The win sends Cohasset to its first state title game since 2014, where it defeated Dover-Sherborn to raise the trophy.
“We’ve been knocked out the last couple of years when we didn’t want to be,” Beaudoin said. “They came in right after the championship. This offseason they’ve shown how hard they want it. That’s where it came from. Their hard work really paid off.”
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