The Hopkinton boys’ lacrosse players did a great job of sharing during Thursday’s Division III playoff game, at least among themselves. When it came to visiting Bishop Brady, the Hawks proved stingy.
All of Hopkinton’s goals were assisted, goalie Danny Lee finished with seven saves and the Hawks rolled to a 15-3 win to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
“That’s indicative of how unselfish we played and the devotion to the team that our guys are showing,” Hopkinton coach Deacon Blue said of his team’s passing and perfect assist-to-goal ratio.
Ryan Brown topped the unselfish list with seven assists to go along with three goals and four ground balls. Patrick Buss (three goals, three assists), Hayden Lynch (three goals, two assists) and Ethan Molnar (assist) lent the helping hands on Hopkinton’s other goals.
When they weren’t passing and catching, the Hawks were causing havoc in the midfield and pressing out from the back end to make life miserable for Bishop Brady (3-10). Hopkinton’s Molnar (six ground balls, 7/10 faceoff wins) and Sam Brown (four goals, four ground balls, three caused turnovers) led the effort in the midfield, while long poles Steven Newton-Delgado (nine ground balls, three caused turnovers, 4/4 faceoffs), Vince Waddell (eight ground balls, two caused turnovers) and John Sullivan (four ground balls, two caused turnovers) anchored the in-home defense.
“Our passing was on point and we applied good pressure,” Blue said.
All of it led to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter and a 7-1 advantage by halftime.
Freshman Ayden Lockhart had a goal and an assist for the Giants, Brady Ziegler added a goal and Saveli Spiridov had an assist and played solid defense for Brady, which had probably seen enough of Hopkinton. These two teams ended the regular season with a pair of games against each other and the Hawks won both, 17-8 and 13-9.
“Props to Bishop Brady for a strong season and playing us so tough in our last three contests,” Blue said, “they will certainly be on our radar in years to come.”
Hopkinton has also won the last three D-III titles (2017-19) and the path looks fairly clear for the Hawks to at least reach a fourth straight final four. They will face Hillsboro-Deering (0-10) in Saturday’s quarterfinals. The Hillcats are a first-year program with just enough players to field a team, and Hopkinton has beaten them twice this season, 12-3 and 17-0. H-D got the luck of the open-tournament, random-seed draw with a first-round bye and top seed in Region 3 of the D-III boys’ lacrosse bracket.
Souhegan 15, Concord 9
Key players: Concord — Nate Doherty (3 goals, assist), Sam Nichol (2 goals, 3 assists), Joey Tarbell (2 goals), Danny O’Brien (goal), Colin Nelson (goal), Eaton Tarbell (3 assists), Colby Bettens (13 saves)
Highlights: This Preliminary Round game was tied at 4-4 after the first period, but Souhegan took an 8-6 lead at halftime and never gave it up to win and advance to the quarterfinals. Concord’s Nichol did record his 100th career goal in his final high school game.
Records: Souhegan 2-10; Concord 7-7
Kearsarge 9, Profile 0
Key players: Kearsarge — Kaelen Lundberg (8-0 win at No. 1 singles), Jared Roberts (8-5 win at No. 2), Toby MacLeod (8-4 win at No. 3), Liam Miller (8-3 win at No. 4), Davis West (8-3 win at No. 5), Thomas Shepherd (8-2 win at No. 6)
Highlights: The Cougars rolled to this semifinal win in singles to claim a spot in Saturday’s D-III championship against Trinity (8-2), which beat Gilford in the other semifinal, 7-2. After winning all six singles matches against Profile, Kearsarge swept the doubles with wins from Lundberg and MacLeod (8-2 at No. 1), Roberts and Miller (9-8, 7-0 in the tiebreaker, at No. 2) and Graham West and Davis West (8-6 at No. 3).
Coach’s quote: “I thought this was a good showing for the Kearsarge boys team with 7 of its 9 member team being first year players. They have come a long way since their first practice this year.” — Kearsarge’s Lynn Miller
Records: Kearsarge 5-4; Profile 5-4
Concord 14, Trinity 8
Key players: Concord — Jarrad Willette (4.2 IP, W, 6 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; 1-for-2, run, RBI, 3 walks), Brooks Craigue (2-for-2, 2 runs, 4 RBI), Nater Wachter (2 hits, 2 runs, RBI), Tyler Wright (hit, run, 2 RBI), Ryan Kastle (hit, 4 runs), Ryan Philbrick (2 runs, RBI), Cam McGonigle (hit, run, defense), Kevin McDonough (run), AJ Fennelly (RBI)
Highlights: The first three innings of this Preliminary Round playoff game were tight as the two teams traded hits and runs. Concord held a 5-4 lead before breaking it open with five runs in the fourth on doubles from Craigue, Wachter and Wright. The Tide added three in the top of the fifth and one in the sixth to push its lead to 13-4 before Trinity scored two in the sixth and two in the seventh. Concord will travel to Bedford for a quarterfinal on Saturday.
Coach’s quote: “We are moving on to the quarters. Jarrad did a great job in relief keeping us in the game and allowing our offense to break it open. Trinity did not go away easy. You have to give them a lot of credit. Proud of the way our team battled.” — Concord’s Scott Owen
Records: Concord 15-5; Trinity 4-10
Oyster River 2, Pembroke Academy 1
Key players: Pembroke Academy — Preston Wallis (6 IP, L, 6 H, 3 BB, 1 K; hit), Landon Pearson (3 HBP, SAC), Alex Ciavaras (hit), Ryan Casey (hit)
Highlights: Pembroke scored first in this playoff game in Durham, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Oyster River answered immediately with a run in the bottom half of the frame, and the game stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the seventh.
Coach’s quote: “It was a well-played game by both sides with lots of runners on base and good defensive execution by both teams. ” — Pembroke Academy’s Josh Coughlin
Records: Oyster River 8-4; Pembroke Academy 6-7
Plymouth 3, Merrimack Valley 1
Key players: MV — Owen Bernier (7 IP, L, 1 ER, 9 K), Griffin Wheeler (1-for-4), Ben Rose (1-for-3, RBI), Dom McGee (1-for-3)
Highlights: MV brought the winning run to the plate in both the sixth and seventh innings but could not get the big hit in this Preliminary Round playoff game.
Coach’s quote: “Kids played hard. Owen was a bulldog on the mound. Our seniors (Griffin Wheeler, Aiden Wood and Bryant Heath) will be missed.” — Sean Wheeler
Records: Plymouth 10-4; MV 5-8
Hopkinton 20, Hillsboro-Deering 2, 5 inn.
Key players: Hopkinton — Logan Briand (4 IP, W, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 K; 2-for-4, 4 RBI), Max Aframe (3-for-3, 3 doubles, 3 RBI), Bryce Charron (2-for-3, 3 RBI), Peyton Marshall (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 4 runs; 1 IP, 2 K)
Highlights: H-D took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but it was short lived. Hopkinton scored three in the first, seven in the second and finished with 17 hits on its way to the playoff win. The Hawks will now host Conant in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Coach’s quote: “The bats were hot and we took advantage of a few Hillcat errors and then the bats got hot again. I was pleased – even when we made outs we scored runs. Total team effort!” — Hopkinton’s David Chase
Records: Hopkinton 9-4; Hillsboro-Deering 3-9
Concord Crush girls had a pair of recent wins, 13-9 against Hampton Riptide and 8-5 over Windham. Ali Cabot, Katie Edwards and Meg Bohan led the midfield against Hampton while Maddie Beauregard and Leah Foulds anchored the defense. Against Windham, Liv Lyon and Libby Lombard were key factors in the transition game, while Emma Burnett, Fleur Caryl-Klika and goalie Elizabeth Johnson helped to hold a talented Windham team to just five goals.
Kiwanis defeated Concord Police Patrolmen’s Association, 8-2, in Concord Babe Ruth action. Charlie Bolnick had six strikeouts in three innings on the mound for Kiwanis, while Jordan Foor and Carter Lavoie each had a hit with two RBI. For CPPA, Derek Ramos pitched five strong innings, Theo Schneible had a double and scored both runs, and Deagan Hines closed out the game on the mound.
■ Concord’s St. Mary’s Bank scored nine runs in the sixth inning to beat the Bow Sheep Enterprises Knights, 13-12. For St. Mary’s Bank, Drew Steinberg, Jasper O’Shaughnessy, Nolan Kennedy and Evan Anderson each had two hits and Seth Bartlett knocked in the winning run. On the mound for the Knights, Quinn Filkins gave up only one run and struck out nine in three innings. George Kohl had two hits, and Logan French, Garrett Alderton and Carter Laguna each had a hit for the Knights.
Banks Chevrolet defeated Rowley, 10-8, in Concord Northeast Majors action. Rowley’s Jamie Skafidas pitched four innings, allowing just two hits while striking out eight, and he hit a home run. Kole Hines pitched well for Banks and Wyatt Rockwell hit a two-run home run.
■ Granite State Glass defeated Associated Grocers, 13-10, in Concord Little League AAA action. Bennett Pouliot and Harrison Beecher were outstanding on the mound for Granite State while Brayden Bailey anchored the defense and caught the entire game. Pouliot and Billy Mullen carried the offense with multiple extra-base hits and a combined seven RBI. Associated Grocers’ Patrick Fennessy stood out offensively while Keegan McCormack and Alique Valeras performed well behind the plate.