Marcoux scores OT winner to lift Plymouth boys lacrosse past Laconia (video)

LACONIA - Brendan Marcoux could see the play developing when Caden Sanborn got the ball on the attacking side of midfield.

From there, the only questions that remained were if the Plymouth High School boys lacrosse team had enough time and if the Bobcats were able to execute.

Sanborn got the ball with a little more than nine seconds on the clock and got into the box, passing it across to Lukas Legacy.

Legacy heard Marcoux calling his name and got him the ball with one defender to beat, and the junior did just that, getting in alone on Laconia goalie Cam Harriman for the game-winning goal with just enough time left to give Plymouth a 4-3 overtime win on Thursday.

"Coming over the midfield, I looked up and I thought it was about 20 seconds," Marcoux said. "Obviously, it wasn’t that because it was a lot shorter, but that’s what it felt like. I saw the pass go up to one of our guys in the middle and over and I knew I was wide open.

"I was yelling and he got it to me, and then I knew it was short time, so I did a face dodge. The goalie’s stick was dropping so I decided to put it top left and I was able to finish it off."

The goal was the third of the game for Marcoux, who scored twice in the first half to help give Plymouth (1-0) a 2-1 lead at halftime. Dylan Welch scored with 5:39 left in the third quarter to make it 3-1, but Laconia's Cole Roy scored twice in the final 3:17 of the quarter to send it to the fourth tied at 3.

Jake Marcoux, Brendan's brother and a senior, finished with 19 saves, including a handful in the second half that were right on the doorstep and kept Plymouth in the game. Mamush Tighe added three assists for the Bobcats, while Tim Ausevich had Laconia's other goal and Cam Harriman made 10 saves, one of which came in the final minute of regulation.

"I thought we played very well," said Laconia assistant coach Amani Mwingira, who was helping to fill in for head coach Steve McDonough. "One of the biggest things we’ve been working on is passing and catching, and it looked great. Our goalie played a great game and we got to play in a classic game here where it could have gone either way."

Both teams struggled in the second half with turnovers, as they combined for 26 in the third and fourth quarters, many of them coming on clears.

"Fortunately, the game of lacrosse is not judged by style points," Plymouth coach Glenn Mausolf said. "It was definitely gritty. Both teams played tremendously and left it out on the line. The goalies were outstanding. It was just a close one."

The goalies were at their best in the biggest moments. Plymouth took a timeout with 1:58 left in regulation, and while the Bobcats got three good looks, the first two shots missed the mark and the third was stopped by Harriman.

The Sachems were able to clear the ball and took a timeout of their own with 28.1 seconds remaining. Jake Marcoux matched Harriman with  a save, but Laconia's ride forced a turnover with 9.7 seconds left and the Sachems took another timeout; their final shot was off the mark and the game went to overtime.

"I think it shows us, (Thursday), they acted as a team, and that’s one of the things we’ve been harping on throughout the whole preseason," Mwingira said. "We need to come together and not be individuals. We showed perseverance, which for a lot of our kids, sometimes when we’re in those tough situations, kids have back down and (Thursday) they didn’t."

Ausevich won the faceoff in overtime, but Laconia took a quick shot and Marcoux came up with the save. Plymouth was able to maintain possession after that, forcing Harriman to make a trio of saves to keep the game going.

The ball went back and forth in the final two minutes, and with under 20 seconds to play, Laconia's Carson Tucker lost the ball in front of the Plymouth goal. Joseph Peters scooped up the groundball, quickly got it up to Sanborn just across midfield and Plymouth was on its way to the win.

"It was a fraction of a fraction," Mausolf said. "You try to talk about both sides of the ball in that last Laconia timeout. Not simply what we need to defensively, but this is what we need to do offensively if we get it back. With that, you’re holding on. Seeing it was an unsettled situation, where their defense wasn’t quite setup, our offense wasn’t quite setup, and you’re just holding on and hoping for the best."