Goffstown boys lacrosse moves on to D2 quarters with win over Timberlane

GOFFSTOWN - Ball movement makes all the difference. Just ask the seventh-seeded Goffstown High School boys lacrosse team.

The Grizzlies (12-5) opened and closed Wednesday’s 10-3 Division II preliminary round victory over No. 10 Timberlane Regional (7-9) by moving the ball effectively and setting up point-blank scoring chances. They capitalized on those opportunities - five times in the first quarter and four in the fourth.

Junior midfielder Nick Mason was responsible for three of those nine goals, while assisting on another. He opened the scoring just 34 seconds into the game, then scored consecutive goals to begin the fourth quarter.

“From the start, we were really moving the ball around to everyone,” Mason said. “And then we got kind of complacent and were taking a lot of ISOs. But then, back in the fourth quarter, we kept working it around and getting it to different guys. It worked out.”

For the 24 minutes sandwiched between those two successful quarters, it was Timberlane’s defensive unit getting the job done.

The Owls’ defense held the Grizzlies scoreless in the second quarter and allowed only one goal in the third (Konnaugh Donovan with 3:53 remaining in the quarter) causing some concern on Goffstown’s sideline.

“We were working as a team in that first quarter,” said Goffstown coach Josh Lewis. “When you work as a team good things happen.

“And then all of a sudden it was falling back into the same type of routine we had in the beginning of the season. You know, where it’s a lot of people trying to do a lot of work themselves. It’s like ‘Oh, I’ll put the team on my back and carry them in.’ That’s not going to work in our next game either.”

That next game is set for 5 p.m. Saturday, as Goffstown visits No. 2 Portsmouth (15-2) in the Division II quarterfinals.

It’s a rematch of a regular-season finale that saw the Grizzlies keep pace with a fast Clippers squad. Goffstown lost 10-9 on its home field, but gained confidence that it could hang with one of the state’s top teams no matter the division.

Mason and his teammates aren’t scared of Portsmouth, that’s for sure.

“I feel pretty good,” Mason said. “We only lost by one last time and were up late in the fourth. We just had a few simple mistakes. I feel pretty confident, especially when we were within one goal last time. A few mistakes on our part. A few missed shots with seconds left that we could have put away. If we do that this weekend, we can pull out a win.”

The Grizzlies buried their shots early and late on Wednesday for a win.

Mason scored the first of his hat trick 34 seconds into the game. That was followed by goals courtesy of Griffin Cook, Eric Dubois (two) and Max Lajeunesse to build a 5-0 lead.

Timberlane’s Matt Licata scored the first of his two goals with 2:18 to play in the opening frame to head into the second quarter down 5-1. He would score the only goal of the second quarter at 9:49 to enter halftime trailing 5-2.

“You know, we clawed back,” Timberlane coach Ken Blaszka said. “We won the second quarter. I thought we tied them in the third quarter, and then the fourth quarter happened. It all started with one bad play and kind of cascaded from there.”

Both teams would net a third quarter goal - Jeff Gray for the Owls and Donovan for the Grizzlies - for a 6-3 Goffstown lead after three quarters.

That’s when Goffstown returned to its earlier form and pulled away. Devin Young and Donovan joined Mason with fourth quarter goals to close out the scoring.