Goffstown boys lacrosse comes back in fourth quarter to beat Trinity (video)

GOFFSTOWN - After a tough week, the Goffstown High School boys lacrosse team was in need of a confidence boost.

The Grizzlies got it Friday against Trinity.

Goffstown battled back from a one-goal deficit twice in the second half, and outscored the Pioneers 3-0 in the fourth quarter, to pull out a 9-7 win over Trinity.

Down 5-4 to start the second half, and down 7-6 to begin the fourth quarter, Goffstown was able to pull in front by doing a lot of the things it hadn't been able to in two losses to Keene earlier in the week.

"We played a lot harder, so that’s a good thing, and we didn’t throw the ball away as often," Goffstown Bill Lawson said. Those are two things that had been haunting us lately. Defensively, we were much more physical."

The Grizzlies (7-4) also came up with some key stops on that end, led by senior goalie Grady Chretien, who made four of his eight saves in the fourth quarter when Trinity (7-3) was trying to cut into the lead.

Goffstown got three goals apiece from Bobby Schaefer and Josh Beegan while Andrew Mason added two goals and two assists and Kyle Auger had a goal and three assists.

"It’s a confidence thing with some of them," Lawson said. "They’ve got the ability to do it, they just need to do it, plain and simple.

"(And) Grady was very key. When he is on his game, which is most of the time, he is aggressive and that’s what we want."

Chretien came up with a couple of saves late, including one in close with about two minutes to play and the Grizzlies up two. Trinity wouldn't get a better chance the rest of the way.

"As the game went on, I started to see the ball a lot better," Chretien said."My defense was helping me a lot, the slides were a lot better. They were giving me a chance to make the save."

Tate Flint scored four goals for Trinity, despite Goffstown focused on taking him out of the game. Brendan Boss, Dylan Brown and Sam D'Urso also had a goal apiece for the Pioneers, while Nick Guerra played the first half and made eight saves.

"Guys played really well (Friday), unfortunately, we fell short on the three things we knew were going to decide the game," Trinity coach Mike Martinez said. "Guys had good intensity. We lost the groundball battle and we lost it in a big, big way. They were more aggressive than we were and that’s big, that’s possession.

"Second thing, communication in the back was very poor. We gave at least four or five bunnies, guys on top of the crease, open. Passing and catching, there was a span in the second quarter we let them in. Why? Because we weren’t passing and catching."

Trinity took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter, but Schaefer tied it for Goffstown 1:51 into the quarter. The Pioneers were able to control possession after that, firing seven shots toward the cage until Brown scored on the manup to put Trinity back in front, 4-3, with 3:05 left in the half.

But the Grizzlies came right back to tie it up, getting a goal from Auger with 1:29 remaining. Trinity answered, though, with Flint scoring with 56 seconds left in the half to put the Pioneers up 5-4 at the break.

Goffstown moved in front on back-to-back goals by Mason just 1:17 apart, taking a 6-5 lead with 7:18 to play. With the teams playing five-on-five, Bass got the ball in transition and went the length of the field to find the back of the net, tying the game at 6 with 3:03 remaining in the third.

Flint scored his fourth of the game less than a minute later, and once again, the Grizzlies were down at the end of a quarter.

It didn't take long for Goffstown to bounce back. Beegan tied the game, scoring off a feed from Auger, with 9:26 left in the game, and moments after a penalty on the Pioneers, the senior did it again, putting the Grizzlies up 8-7 with 8:12 remaining. Schaefer gave Goffstown a little more breathing room, scoring with 6:17 remaining to make it a two-goal game.

"I think it’s big," Chretien said. "We had our last two games and kind of lost them late, so I think this is a good win for us. It will hopefully get us back on the right path."