Arlington Catholic foils St. Mary’s boys lax in fourth quarter

For the St. Mary’s boys lacrosse team, a promising third quarter was followed by a frustrating fourth.Arlington Catholic finished strong by taking a 14-5 decision over St. Mary’s at Manning Field on Saturday. The Cougars had only led by 5-3 in the third quarter.Click here for a photo gallery.”We made a little rally in the third,” Spartans coach Dan Ritchie said. “Then it sort of fell apart in the fourth.”The Cougars held a 5-1 lead at halftime before the Spartans pulled closer in the third quarter.”I guess the big thing is, we have to put a full four quarters together,” Ritchie said. “We seem to be able to put together two or three decent ones.”Nico Manganiello and Steve Poliskey each led the Spartans with two goals apiece. Brian Griffen also scored for St. Mary’s.Penalties were one factor in the team’s fourth-quarter struggles.”We still had too many penalties in the fourth quarter,” Ritchie said. “They were costly penalties that (Arlington Catholic) took advantage of. That’s how they built their lead.”Don Hesse played goalie for three quarters before being pulled for Chris Delvecchio in the fourth.With the win, the Cougars stayed undefeated at 7-0.”They’re going to possibly contend for the conference,” Ritchie said.The Spartans are winless at 0-5. Their next game is Tuesday against Pentucket.NOTES: Ritchie praised the turf of Manning Field in conditions that he described as a misty rain throughout. “The turf held up pretty well,” he said.