Late goal lifts Timberlane boys lacrosse past Oyster River-Newmarket (video)

PLAISTOW - There wasn't a go-to play or any one player who was supposed to get the ball for the Timberlane Regional High School boys lacrosse team.

Ken Blaszka just wanted to see the Owls run their offense and whoever ended up with the open shot would take it. In the final moments of a tie game, Ethan Gerry had that opportunity and his teammates let him know about.

Gerry scored with 1:19 remaining in Tuesday's game against Oyster River-Newmarket, and Timberlane's defense was able to hold the Bobcats on the other end to come away with a 10-9 victory in Division II action.

"I just want them all to run what we’re supposed to run," Blaszka said. "If we just believe in each other, it doesn’t matter who is taking the shot. We got that goal to go up, to be honest, I didn’t think (Gerry) was going to drive. What was nice to see was that the guys on the field told him to drive. They saw something and wanted him to take it."

It was the only goal of the game for Gerry while Eric George led the Owls (3-5) with four goals and Braden Bowman had two scores, including one on a deflection with 2:48 to play that tied the game at 9. Ryan Freeman and Jack Noyes also scored for Timberlane.

The Owls never trailed until the Bobcats (3-5) scored back-to-back goals in just 12 seconds, taking a 9-8 lead with 4:37 to play. ORN looked like it would be able to run some time off the clock, too, but a turnover on a substitution helped set up Bowman's tying goal.

"We’ve been playing pretty good lacrosse," ORN coach Ruppy Hailey said. "In their heads, as well as ours, we’re to that point where we expect more. We’re trying to next-level everything and I felt like we took a step back.

"Too many unforced turnovers, blown assignments on defense, I didn’t think we were aggressive enough on offense, cutting and as far as even dodging. We did a fair amount right, but we’d make a mistake and they’d make us pay, so you’ve got to give them credit for that."

Gabe Goodwin led the Bobcats with two goals and two assists while Marc Parsons and Sam Guilmette added two goals and an assist apiece. Emerson Moore also scored twice and Jake Failla had a goal and an assist.

Finn Mason finished with 19 saves for ORN, including five in the final four minutes of the first half to keep the game tied at 4 going into halftime.

"Finn has been lights out, he really has," Hailey said. "We knew he’d be good, we just didn’t know how good. For the most part, the approach to the game mentally is good and he’s loose in practice all the time. He gets focused at game time, he’s able to flip that switch."

The teams traded goals throughout the first half, with Timberlane taking a lead and ORN coming back to tie it moments later. But the Owls opened the second half with two goals in the first 2:15 to take a 6-4 lead and George stretched it to three with 7:53 remaining in the quarter.

Guilmette scored off the faceoff just 22 seconds later to get the Bobcats back within two, and Timberlane's Doug Lanceleve was called for a slash on the goal, giving ORN a manup situation. But the Bobcats couldn't take advantage and it stayed a 7-5 game into the fourth quarter.

"We don’t know what to do with them against a tough opponent," Blaszka said. "There were a lot of things in the ride and the clear that we’ve been working on for a while. Going to the cage better, looked like we flowed better, we got a lot more shots off, and I felt like we had a little momentum. I think clamoring for that win, they were almost ready to go ‘oh no.’"

Moore and Failla scored 49 seconds apart to open the fourth quarter and tie the game at 7. The Owls went back in front on Freeman's goal with 6:58 left to play, and Timberlane won the ensuing faceoff, but was off the mark on a pair of shots.

ORN got the ball back and wasted little time, as Guilmette found Failla in transition to tie the game at 8, and 12 seconds later, Failla hit an open Goodwin for another goal to make it 9-8.

After Bowman tied the game up at 9, ORN won the faceoff but turned the ball over with 1:39 remaining. Timberlane took a timeout and needed just 11 seconds for Gerry to score.

The Bobcats controlled the faceoff again, but couldn't find an opening in the Owls' defense before calling a timeout with 20.8 seconds remaining. ORN struggled to get a shot off before the buzzer and Moore's last-second attempt bounced in before Timberlane goalie Brady Martson scooped it up.

"It was a good win by our guys," Blaszka said. "They’ve been working hard. We go to their place on Thursday and we’re going to get their best again. They’re a good team and they’ve got some talent. And so do we."