St. Mary’s boys lacrosse falls to Austin Prep

LYNN – After compiling a 13-7 mark last season, the St. Mary’s boys lacrosse squad has been having a tough go of it this spring. The Spartans lost 13 seniors from last year’s squad, and this spring is a learning process, which continues to be ongoing.That was evident this past Saturday afternoon, when St. Mary’s gave up six goals in both the second and third quarters in a 14-3 loss to Austin Prep at Manning Field. The Spartans drop to 1-9.Click here for a photo gallery.”There are a lot of new guys on the team,” said Spartans coach Dan Ritchie, who’s in his second year. “And many of them are new to the game. We’re really starting from square one again. It’s been a challenging season, but they’re willing to work hard to improve.”St. Mary’s fell behind just over a minute into the contest, when attacker Keegan Callahan beat goalie Chris Delvecchio from point-blank range. The Cougars (6-6) continued to win faceoffs and pick up loose balls throughout the quarter, leading to several attempts on the Spartans net, but Delvecchio came up with strong saves.Midfielder Nikko Markham had a good opportunity midway through the quarter to tie the score, as he fired on the Cougars net from 20 yards out, but his shot was stopped by goalie Zack Sullivan.Austin Prep took a 2-0 lead just before the end of the quarter. Delvecchio was running with the ball from out of his crease, and attempted to pass the ball downfield. Yet the ball was picked off by midfielder Paul Bruce near midfield. He brought the ball back through open field, swooped upon the net, and beat Delvecchio from in close for the goal.The Cougars scored a pair of goals within a minute in the second quarter to widen the lead. Midfielder Dave McKenzie beat Delvecchio from the short side early in the period to give the Cougars a 3-0 edge. Austin Prep was able to win the ensuing faceoff, controlling play and keeping the ball. As a result, only 51 seconds elapsed before Bruce netted his second score with a 25-yard fling.”Winning the faceoffs and ground balls are all keys to the game, and they’re things that we have to work on,” said Ritchie. “If you don’t possess the ball, that’ll get you into trouble.”The Cougars scored three goals in 90 seconds (by midfielders Vinnie Visconti and Shawn Leahy and attacker Shane Hurley) before St. Mary’s got onto the board. Midfielder Andrew Markham took the ball from his own end, running the length of the field deep into the Austin Prep zone. He found teammate Tim Aylward, standing in front of the net, and his shot beat Sullivan for the goal. However, attacker John Donahoe got that goal back for the Cougars just 18 seconds later for an 8-1 advantage, which the team carried to the half.Austin Prep scored the first five goals of the third period, before midfielder Matt Molloy netted the first of his two scores, on a 25-yarder from the left.Midfielder A.J. Bruce got the goal back for the Cougars just before the end of the quarter. Molloy had the only score of the final period, taking a pass, and firing his shot from 20 yards out.”We did a good job staying out of the penalty box,” stated Ritchie. “This is going to be a tough year for us, but in the end, it’ll all make us a better team.”