Newburyport boys lacrosse tops Bishop Fenwick to set up sectional final rematch with Triton

Jun. 24—NEWBURYPORT — Round 3 is officially on.

After two epic battles in the regular season, Newburyport and Triton boys lacrosse will meet one more time for all the marbles in Friday's Division 3 North Sectional Final. Triton punched its ticket after beating Austin Prep on Tuesday, and Wednesday Newburyport followed suit with a decisive 15-6 win over Catholic Central League contender Bishop Fenwick.

"When we won the game a couple of weeks ago I knew we'd see them again," said Newburyport boys lacrosse coach Josh Wedge about Triton. "All year I think we've been the best two teams in Division 3 North, we've got the better of them twice in very close games and I hope we can do it again."

Bishop Fenwick didn't make it easy for Newburyport, and early in Wednesday's Division 3 North Semifinal clash it looked like the Clippers could be in for a long day. The Crusaders jumped out to an early 3-1 lead and largely controlled possession thanks to several uncharacteristic miscues by the Clippers, but eventually Newburyport settled down and took control from the second quarter onwards.

"No matter how good of a season you have they're high school kids and there is going to be a little bit of nerves at the start of the game," Wedge said. "I thought we turned the ball over, we were cradling the ball out of our sticks, stuff we haven't done all year, but I knew if we could just get the ball on offense I felt good about our chances to create some good looks, and once we got a more comfortable lead I think our kids relaxed a bit more."

Newburyport and Bishop Fenwick finished the first quarter tied at 4-4 but from that point on the Clippers outscored their opponents 11-2 the rest of the way. Ryan Cottone (5 goals) gave Newburyport the lead for good with 8:54 to play in the second quarter, and faceoff specialist Colin McLoy (19 for 22) started heating up to ensure the Clippers maintained control of the ball the rest of the game.

Newburyport led 7-4 at halftime, 10-5 after the third and continued to stretch the lead further throughout the fourth quarter while largely keeping Bishop Fenwick from establishing any kind of groove. Jack Hadden and John Donovan were both dominant forces defensively as well to help ensure the Clippers held up their end of the bargain in setting up the big rubber match against Triton.

In addition to Cottone, Kennedy Heath also scored four goals, including an incredible behind the back snipe in the fourth quarter, and Zach Lever tallied three assists. Manny Alvarez-Segee led Bishop Fenwick with two goals and goalie George Kostolias played great in a 14-save effort.

"I just told our boys this was an emotional one for us, starting out 0-3, ahving injuries, having COVID stops, wearing facemasks, not being able to stand next to each other in practice," said Bishop Fenwick coach Steve Driscoll after the loss. "This is a team that I hope they never forget, and I know I'll never forget, it's a real special group for me and they didn't want this to end, they really didn't want this to end."

Bishop Fenwick ends the season at 12-7, while Newburyport (14-1) will host Triton on Friday at 5:15 p.m.

Newburyport 15, Bishop Fenwick 6

Division 3 North Semifinals

Goals: N — Ryan Cottone 5, Kennedy Heath 4, Oliver Pons, Jake Palma, Jon Groth, Colin McLoy, Christian Kinsey, Ryan McHugh; BF — Manny Alvarez-Segee 2, Stefano Fabiano, Brady McClung, Liam Hill, Tyler Mullen

Assists: N — Zach Lever 3, Pons, Heath; BF — Aiden Anthony 2, Jake Connolly, Alvarez-Segee

Saves: N — Ryan Portalla 5; BF — George Kostolias 14

Bishop Fenwick (12-7): 4 0 1 1 — 6

Newburyport (14-1): 4 3 3 5 — 15