Division III boys lacrosse: Hopkinton shows depth in beating Bobcats
Jun. 9—LACONIA — Hopkinton High School boys lacrosse coach Deacon Blue said his team outworked Plymouth Regional and showed its depth in its 12-9 NHIAA Division III semifinal victory on Wednesday at Bank of New Hampshire Stadium.
The second-seeded Hawks (14-2) had seven goal-scorers, shut out third-seeded Plymouth (13-4) in the second quarter and strung together a 5-1 run to end the third quarter after the Bobcats tied the game.
Hopkinton will play the winner of Wednesday's late semifinal between top-seeded Campbell and fourth-seeded Laconia in the Division III final on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter.
The Hawks took a 10-6 lead, their largest of the game, into the fourth quarter after ending the third on their 5-1 run.
The Bobcats tied the game at 5-5 on a goal from Brendan Marcoux with 7:51 left in the third quarter. Quinn
Whitehead began Hopkinton's run with his goal that broke the five-goal deadlock 15 seconds after Plymouth pulled even.
"We've been in that position before," Blue said of when Plymouth tied the game in the third quarter. "I think the guys have good perseverance at this point and they didn't let it get to their heads. We knew Plymouth was going to score a lot of goals and we were going to have to keep working hard."
Goals from Mamush Tighe and Marcoux (four goals) to open the fourth quarter pulled the Bobcats within two but that was as close as they got over the final 12 minutes.
Hopkinton senior goalkeeper Eli Standefer (six saves) denied two Plymouth shots on consecutive possessions with about four minutes remaining to preserve his team's 11-8 lead.
"Eli's clutch like that," Blue said. "He's been that way all season — all four years, really."
Hawks senior attackman Ryan Brown (two goals) capped the game's scoring with 1:28 remaining.
Down, 3-2, after the opening 12 minutes, the Hawks retook the lead 26 seconds into the second quarter and shut out Plymouth in the frame to build a 5-3 halftime lead.
Hopkinton won the first two second-quarter faceoffs, which resulted in two Steven Reddy goals that he scored 15 seconds apart to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead.
Hopkinton senior Ethan Molnar gave Hopkinton its two-goal halftime cushion with a goal that came with 8:56 left in the first half.
Plymouth built its 3-2 lead with a 3-0 run over the final 4:57 of the first quarter. Bobcats junior Dylan Welch (two goals) and freshman Lukas Legacy scored 40 seconds apart to knot the score at 2-2. Marcoux's man-up goal, which came off an assist from Nicholas Therrien with 2:27 left in the opening stanza, gave Plymouth its only lead of the contest.
The Bobcats had one shot on goal in the second quarter.
Whitehead had a hat trick, Aidan Burns scored twice and Josh Duval and Pat Buss each added a goal for Hopkinton. Hawks senior midfielder Connor Tewksbury won 12 faceoffs.
Bobcats senior goalie Jacob Marcoux made 10 saves. Plymouth secured 21 ground balls, caused 26 turnovers and won nine faceoffs.
