Swampscott boys lax advances

SWAMPSCOTT – The Swampscott lacrosse team?s quest for a Division 3 North title got off to a roaring start with a 16-6 quarterfinal victory over visiting Mystic Valley on Saturday afternoon at Blocksidge Field.The No. 3 Big Blue finished with a 42-10 advantage in shots and showed tremendous depth with three players registering three-goal games and five with multi-point efforts.?I?ve told my guys all year that if we play as a team and eliminate the individualism, then we are tough to beat. We showed that today,” lauded coach Todd Pierce, whose squad advances to the semifinals to play No. 2 Hamilton-Wenham (Wednesday, 5).Swampscott blitzed the visitors from the opening whistle, sending eight shots towards Trevor Bonaccorsi (13 saves), who was finally beaten with just 27 ticks remaining in the opening 12 minutes.Jason Dignan (3 goals, 2 assists), whose stellar work at the face-off dot proved a key catalyst in the win, set the play in motion with a long run down the right side before finding an uncontested Alex Balleza in the middle for an open rip that found its mark.?Bonaccorsi came out on fire and was frustrating our scorers, so that first goal turned out to be a big one,” explained Pierce. “Once we broke the seal, our guys started gaining confidence and we went from there.”In a much more opened-up second period, the hosts tallied six times on 15 shots. No. 6 Mystic Valley would score twice, only to see the Big Blue answer (very) shortly after.Noah Maercklein scored at the tail end of a three-minute power play to open the frame, after dancing out from behind the net before the Eagles cut the lead in half on Zack Marks? (3 goals) tally at the 7:34 mark.Just 48 seconds later, Maercklein finished off a highlight-reel effort that featured a great move to beat a solo defender before completely faking out Bonaccorsi to finish it off. Devin Conroy (2 goals, 2 assists) upped the lead to three 18 seconds later.On the power play, Mystic Valley?s Ryan Kinnon (3 goals) made it 4-2 at 5:55 before Balleza (from Conroy) responded 12 seconds later, forcing the visitors into a timeout.On the ensuing whistle, Dignan provided a highlight of his own, winning the draw clean before stepping around his counterpart and racing, untouched, to the net for an easy goal.?It was a team effort, but I have to single out Jason today,” praised Pierce. “He was automatic on draws, which is a testament to the hard work he?s put in. I wish I could take some credit, but he has mastered face-offs on his own.”With a man advantage, Andrew Dove converted a feed from Griffin Hunt (3 goals, assist) at the left post to go into the half up 7-2. “We?ve tweaked our power play a bit by installing some new ideas, but it all boils down to keeping it simple,” said Pierce of the unit, which finished 3 for 4.Three Swampscott goals in a 14-second span hammered the final nail into the Eagles? coffin early in the third. Hunt, Dignan and Balleza each tallied, with the latter two coming just six seconds apart.Marks would convert with seven minutes remaining in the period before Dignan answered 25 seconds later. Hunt?s second goal of the game made it 12-3 at 6:11.The Big Blue lead hit double digits at the 4:30 mark when Tim Costin tallied on the power play. Conroy and Hunt would hit the back of the net from virtually the same spot on the right side before a power play goal from Kinnon at 1:56.With the game in hand, the hosts emptied the bench, getting one final goal from Sebastian Camelo before the Eagles closed out the scoring with finishes from Kinnon and Marks, respectively.