Lax roundup: St. Mary’s boys see season come to an end

The St. Mary’s boys lacrosse team saw its season come to an end Tuesday with a 5-2 loss to Ipswich in a Division 3 East preliminary-round game at Manning Field.This one was a battle. The score was tied, 2-2, heading into the fourth quarter. Ipswich scored a couple of late goals to put the game away.”It was definitely a tight game,” St. Mary’s coach Dan Ritchie said.The Spartans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a Matt Molloy goal and went up 2-1 thanks to a Corey Campbell tally. St. Mary’s spent most of the second quarter killing penalties (the Spartans had nine total, four in the second quarter).”That really hurt us,” Ritchie said. “That put us a man down almost the entire second quarter.”Matt Rogers (17 saves) was solid in net. He also had plenty of support from a senior contingent led by Brendan Donovan and Jordan Harvey. Chris Toomey anchored the defense. The Spartans finish the season at 13-8.”We had a 6-10 season last year,” Ritchie said. “This is my first year as coach. It felt really good to come in and have an immediate impact, to get these guys into the tournament. I hope it’s a feeling we get used to. It’s postseason thoughts from here on out.”GIRLS LACROSSEWestford Academy 19, Fenwick 9At Bishop Fenwick, in Division 2 North first-round action, the game was fairly even the first 10 minutes or so, but once Westford Academy started heating up, the Crusaders found themselves falling into a deeper and deeper hole. Westford Academy scored five unanswered goals, and, by the half, led 12-4.”They play in a tough league,” Fenwick coach Karen Guillemette said. “They’re a talented team. They spread out their offense. It’s not like one person does the scoring. Once they broke away, it was tough to bounce back.”Senior Bridget Dullea wrapped up her high school career in fitting style, scoring five goals. Dullea has been a scoring machine the last three years. She finished this season with 95 goals and 27 assists. Last year, she had 88 goals and 16 assists and as a sophomore, which was the first year of the program, she had 44 goals and no assists for a career total of 227 goals and 43 assists. She’ll be playing Division 2 lacrosse at Converse College in Spartansburg, S.C., next year. Dullea is also a talented basketball and volleyball player.The Crusaders also had goals from Becca Graves (3) and Maggie Gore (1). Jill DeFrancesco (13 saves) was in net for Fenwick.AB 16, Peabody 8In Division 1 North first-round action, the Tanners (12-4) ran into a buzz saw. Acton-Boxborough reached the state semifinals last year and apparently hasn’t lost a step.”They play in an extremely strong league (Dual County),” Peabody coach Dennis Desroches said, adding that playing on a turf field was an adjustment for Peabody, which plays most of its games on grass.”The ball moves much faster,” he said. “It’s just a much different game.”Caroline Connors had three goals for the Tanners. Brittany Lefave and Jessica Leslie each had two and Erika Digiacomo picked up an assist. Brittany Costa (16 saves) had a busy afternoon in net.”She kept it close,” Desroches said about his goalie. “When you face 30 shots and they have nine or 10 possible scorers, it’s tough.”Peabody was seeded 10th and Acton-Boxborough is seventh at 15-4-1.”I’m extremely proud of our team,” Desroches said. “A couple of times, we came to within two.”In other Division 2 North first-round play, Marblehead lost to Belmont, 10-9.