How Old Rochester boys lacrosse's perfect season came to an end in the Div. 3 playoffs
MATTAPOISETT — Sawyer Fox was happy playing up front for the Old Rochester boys lacrosse team, but head coach Michael Forns had other plans for his versatile junior attacker.
"He took me aside and told me he thought I would be better off as a midfielder, because of my build (6-foot-5, 175 pounds) and my athleticism," said Fox, who also plays basketball and golf for the Bulldogs. "The switch gave me a chance to move all over the field and get on and off the field to give the team some fresh legs on offense."
Forns, who's in his first season with the Bulldogs and used to coach the men's team at UMass Dartmouth, was looking to get Sawyer more involved on offense.
"He's a great athlete and we were looking to get him more touches and more shots," said Forns, who guided the Bulldogs to the South Coast Conference championship in his first season at the helm. "He didn't like playing with his back to the net as an attacker, so we squared him up with the net and that let him see the field a lot better, get more looks, and make more plays. With Sawyer at midfield, our offense had more motion to it and he was able to create more scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates."
Fox, who averaged 11.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.0 steals a game as a small forward/shooting guard on the way to earning Standard-Times Super Team honors last season, scored with 2:14 left in the first quarter to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead in a 12-9 Round of 32 loss to Pope Francis Prep in the MIAA Div.3 State Tournament on Thursday.
"It was a disappointing way to end the season, but we held our own against a good team," Fox said. "We had some great senior leadership this season. We worked hard at practice and came to play every time we took the field. The energy on the team was good and we were able to build some nice chemistry with each other."
The Bulldogs, who came in averaging 12.9 goals a game, ran into a well-coached team on Thursday that was very good at clearing the ball away from its net and out of its defensive zone.
"We sputtered a little on offense. Things didn't flow for us like they usually do," Fox said. "We spent a lot of time moving the ball and had to work hard for good shots on net. That ate a lot of time off the clock and we never got over the hump in the fourth quarter."
The Bulldogs made it an 11-9 game with 4:07 remaining, but they never got any closer and that brought an end to a year that saw the team also put together a 12-0 SCC record and 16-0 regular season mark.
"We struggled to get on a roll with the ball and that was frustrating," Forns said. "They capitalized on all of our mistakes and their goalie (freshman Matt Davis) threw every part of his body at the ball in front of the net. He made some amazing saves to protect their lead in the fourth quarter. For some reason, we didn't click on offense and that put pressure on our defense against a good team that moved the ball down the field quickly and put the ball in the net."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams put seven shots on net in the first quarter, where the Bulldogs built a 3-2 lead. The Cardinals outscored the Bulldogs 4-2 in the second quarter to make it a 6-5 game at halftime, and they scored on four of their seven shots in the third quarter to stretch their advantage to 10-7. Both teams put two more goals on the board in the fourth quarter, where the Bulldogs pulled to within 11-9 with 4:07 left to play. The Cardinals then capped the scoring with 2:14 remaining.
WHAT IT MEANS: The No. 16 Bulldogs finished the season 16-1. ... No. 17 Pope Francis improved to 7-10. The Cardinals will play No. 1 Medfield in a Round of 16 game on a date and at a time still to be announced. The Warriors advanced with a 20-3 Round of 32 win over No. 32 Arlington Catholic on Thursday. Arlington Catholic opened the tournament with a 11-5 win over No. 33 Fairhaven in the preliminary round.
POPE FRANCIS STATS: Junior attacks Rich Roy and Gage Sperlonga scored hat tricks to fuel the Cardinals' offense. ... Davis finished with 14 saves. ... The Cardinals were whistled for a pair of one-minute penalties in the first quarter.
OLD ROCHESTER STATS: Junior attack Zach Zutaut finished with a team-high five goals for the Bulldogs. ... Junior midfielder Brady Lee scored twice and the Bulldogs also got goals from junior attack Tyler Cardinal and Sawyer. ... Freshman goalie Brady Reardon made nine saves in the first half and junior Thomas Janicki turned away six shots in the second half. ... The Bulldogs played a man down on one-minute penalties in the first and second quarters.
NOTES: Neither team was penalized in the second half. ... ORR junior Harrison Hughes and Pope Francis freshman Enzo Liquori went back and forth in faceoff battles against each other at midfield after goals were scored. ... Davis made two big saves on point-blank shots in the fourth quarter, including one with about three minutes left to play and the Cardinals leading 11-9. ... Pope Francis, which is based in Springfield, plays in the Valley Wheel Conference against Longmeadow, Minnechaug Regional, Northampton, South Hadley, Westfield, and Westfield Tech.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Old Rochester boys lacrosse loses to Pope Francis Prep in Div. 3
