Pinkerton boys lacrosse uses first-quarter run to beat Nashua South (video)

DERRY - The Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team has no problem putting up goals in a hurry.

That was evident in the first quarter of Thursday's game against Nashua South. What the Astros have been getting better at is finishing games once they've gone on a run.

Pinkerton went on a 7-0 run in the final seven minutes of the opening quarter to turn a 2-1 deficit into a six-goal lead and the Astros were able to maintain that advantage with patience on offense and solid defense on the way to an 18-4 win over the Panthers in a Division I game.

Ryan Lynch led Pinkerton (8-2, No. 3 in the NHHSS Coaches Poll) with six goals and two assists while Mason Barbone had four goals and three assists as the Astros won their fifth in a row.

Riley Spellman added three goals and two assists and Hunter Drouin also had three goals and an assist, as Pinkerton outscored South 8-0 in the second half. Liam Prescott added a goal and an assist and Colby Gagnon also scored.

"For us, we realize we can push transition, especially when we’re winning faceoffs,"Pinkerton coach Steve Gaudreau said. "It’s understanding when to settle the ball. Maybe the first look might not be the best look. We’re still learning. A lot of guys are just getting experience."

Cole Frank won 17 of 23 faceoffs for Pinkerton while Tyler LeBlanc made 10 saves. With top long pole Declan Turner out, the rest of the Astros defense stepped up to help shut out the Panthers in the second half.

South (2-4, No. 9), which was playing its first game since April 27 due to a COVID-19 pause, got three goals from Jaden Murphy and one from Drew Fleury. Ethan Johnson made 10 saves for the Panthers.

"We came out well, but we just don’t have our feet underneath us," South coach Bill Monsen said. "We feel into old, bad habits, especially on offense. Early we had momentum, and then we were forcing things, and then we weren’t winning faceoffs."

The Panthers opened the scoring and then took a 2-1 lead on a great play by Fleury, who intercepted a clearing attempt in front of the Pinkerton goal and flipped a shot backward over his head to give South the lead with 8:54 left in the first quarter.

But that lead would only hold up for a little more than two minutes. The Astros responded with four goals in 1:18, with Barbone putting Pinkerton up 5-2 with 5:28 remaining in the quarter.

Drouin made it 8-2, scoring with 10 seconds left in the quarter, and Barbone pushed the lead to seven with a goal just eight seconds into the second quarter. South was able to get a couple of goals back, getting within 10-4 going into halftime.

Spellman scored a manup goal 40 seconds into the second half to make it 11-4 and Drouin sent a behind-the-back pass from behind the cage to a cutting Lynch, who scored as he was sent flying to make it 12-4 just 30 seconds later.

From there, it was a matter of the Astros defense matching up with the Panthers offense to keep them from getting back in the game.

"South is a good team," Gaudreau said. "They have a lot of weapons on offense and a lot of guys you want to keep the ball away from. We definitely expected it.

"They’re running a couple of their better guys at the midfield on the faceoff. When you prepare for them and you have those matchups, we were losing them early on transition. We responded."