The visitors scored just 11 seconds into the game. Fifteen seconds later, they scored again. That quick barrage might have surprised some, but not the Kearsarge boys’ lacrosse team, which conceded those two quick goals on Friday in a Division III quarterfinal against Plymouth.
Slow starts have been an unfortunate theme for the Cougars all season, and it cost them on Friday as the No. 7 Bobcats snagged the early momentum and eventually pulled off a 9-7 upset against No. 2 Kearsarge.
“We’ve been a slow-starting team all season,” Cougars Coach Zach Matthews said. “I’m even thinking back to our first game this year when we were down 5-0 to Merrimack Valley and then we started playing, and it was a similar story today.”
Plymouth (10-5) added another early score to push its lead to 3-0 before the Cougars (12-3) made their first move.
Lucas Muzzey (two goals) got Kearsarge on the board with 3:05 left in the first. Freshman Tate Nurme (three goals, one assist) cut the lead to 3-2 when he scored with 1:23 left in the first, and Justin Norris (two goals) tied things when he scored an unassisted goal with 7:29 to go in the second quarter.
But the Bobcats didn’t let that run rattle them. Instead, they came back to score three unanswered and took a 6-3 lead into halftime.
“At halftime we talked about being really disappointed with the energy to start the game, but we were done feeling sorry for ourselves at that point,” Matthews said. “It was time to start digging ourselves out and the third-quarter energy was much better.”
That energy turned into three goals for the Cougars, one each from Nurme, Muzzey and Norris. Plymouth netted a pair of goals in the third, but Kearsarge was down just two, 8-6, headed into the fourth.
But those two goals proved to be too much of a deficit, especially with the Bobcats defense keying on Norris, the Cougars’ top player.
“They were sliding to him quickly and getting pressure on his hands right away,” Matthews said. “It was just tough for us to get him involved in the offense.”
Kearsarge was also hurt by a lack of marksmanship. After managing just five shots in the first half, the Cougars had 23 in the second half, but too many of those were off target.
“We just weren’t accurate,” Matthews said. “We hit the pipe four times, we missed the net, and credit their goalie (Chris Patnode), he made some great saves.”
Plymouth scored in the middle of the fourth to make it 9-6 before Nurme scored with 1:36 left on the clock. The Cougars won the ensuing faceoff and even had a man-up advantage to work with, but they lost possession on the man-up and the Bobcats ran out the clock on Keararge’s season.
“We had our opportunities,” Matthews said, “we just couldn’t take advantage.”
From coaches’ reports
No. 5 Hopkinton 12,
No. 4 Monadnock 11, OT
Key players: Hopkinton – Owen Kanter (3 goals, 1 assist), Sam Schuster (2 goals), Tim Jones (2 goals), Prince Mansah (2 goals), Joe Cullinan (1 goal, 2 assists), Gerry Donahue (8 takeaway checks, 10 ground balls), Jake Hemmerlein (8 takeaway checks), Derek Amoth 13 saves
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks started hot in this quarterfinal matchup, opening up a 6-2 lead before Monadnock came back to make it 6-5 at halftime and, eventually, take an 11-9 lead with four minutes left. Hopkinton got a goal with about three minutes to go to start its comeback, and then, after a key takeaway check from Hemmerlein, a score from Liam Flanagan with just 10 seconds left in regulation forced overtime. The Hawks didn’t waste any time in the extra session – they came up with the ground ball off the face off and Jones used a dodge to open himself up to score the game-winning goal.
Coach’s quote: “Today’s game was a spectacular performance for both teams. The guys came out and played some pure lacrosse. Our defense was tenacious and our offense was opportunistic. I am proud of my team for the way they stuck to the plan and kept their composure even when things looked grim for us. What a way to begin our playoff run. Monadnock is a great team and I give them a lot of credit for having such a strong program. We are looking forward to our game against (No. 1) Laconia on Tuesday (in the semifinals).” – Hopkinton’s Deacon Blue
Records: Hopkinton 11-4; Monadnock 11-4
No. 6 John Stark 3,
No. 11 Bishop Guertin 0
Key players: John Stark – Sawyer Lemay (setting) Robert Blouin (setting), Cody Lemay (outside hitting), Tyler Bossart (outside hitting), Aedan McCarron (middle hitting), Robbie Yelle (middle hitting), Griffin Caswell (libero) Highlights/key moments: The Generals overcame some early playoff jitters to pull out a 25-19 win in the first game. The next game was a dominating, 25-15 win which featured solid play in all aspects. The final set was tight from start to finish, but the Generals were able to close out the match with a 26-24 win. John Stark will now travel to No. 3 Hollis-Brookline (15-3) for a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday night.
Coach’s quote: “The boys have been working hard in practices and it showed with today’s performance. We made good decisions throughout the match and paid attention to the little things.” – Stark’s Dave Simeone
Records: John Stark 10-7; Bishop Guertin 3-14