Timberlane boys lacrosse bounces back by grinding out win over Oyster River-Newmarket (video)

PLAISTOW - It's been a week unlike many others for the Timberlane Regional High School boys lacrosse team.

First, there was the high of knocking off Derryfield with a huge fourth-quarter comeback. Then, there was the low of a depleted roster getting knocked down by Winnacunnet. In between, there was limited practice time with limited personnel, as the flu wreaked havoc throughout the team.

When the Owls returned to the field Thursday, they weren't at their best, but they found a way to get it done. Timberlane shut out Oyster River-Newmarket in the first half and did enough in the second to hang on for a 5-2 win in a Division II contest.

Braidon Bowman had three goals and two assists to lead the Owls (6-1, No. 5 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) while Eric George had two goals and an assist and Brady Marsten made five saves.

"It was huge," Timberlane coach Ken Blaszka said of the win. "We’ve been limited in practice and having that ability to grind one out, knowing that we have a bunch of guys sick, and it’s tough. It’s good, we needed that. They’re a good team, they’re well-coached and we knew they were going to be ready for us. We were able to exploit a couple of things on our ride, which we got some good goals from."

Two of Bowman's three goals came in the second quarter off turnovers on clearing attempts by the Bobcats (4-3), which helped the Owls build a 4-0 lead at halftime. Timberlane had two more opportunities to extend the lead thanks to its ride early in the third quarter, but ORN goalie Finn Mason came up with a pair of point-blank saves that kept it close.

"I thought Finn had a great game," ORN coach Ruppy Hailey said. "The entire sideline recognize that, the guys in front of him recognize that. It’s one of the first things I said to the boys after the game, of the things that stood out, first and foremost was the goaltending."

Mason finished with 10 saves while Jake Failia and Jake Lyczak each had a goal for the Bobcats and Gabe Goodwin and Sam Guilmette each had an assist.

It was a day where goals, and even shots, were hard to come by, thanks to a strong wind along with solid defense and goaltending from both sides.

"They did a nice job defensively, and yeah we only scored two goals, but it wasn’t because we were totally outmatched and out of place," Hailey said. "We didn’t finish when we had the chances to. In a three-goal game, that’s the difference."

Blaszka felt Timberlane had a chance to really break the game open in the second quarter, but also couldn't take advantage of opportunities.

"I would have liked to burry more of those shots, but the goalie got hot," he said. "Right when we’re really ready to (break it open), we hit a pipe. We had a couple of opportunities."

Lyczak got the Bobcats on the board with five minutes left in the third quarter, making it 4-1 Owls, and ORN looked like it might grab some momentum, winning the faceoff. But the Bobcats turned it over before getting a scoring chance, and at the other end, Mason made a pair of saves to keep the lead from going back to four.

Failia cut the lead in half with 9:32 remaining, and again, ORN won the faceoff, but again, turned it over. This time, the Owls made it a costly mistake, as George scored with 8:15 left to play to give Timberlane a 5-2 lead.

"Getting that fifth goal was huge because it really cut the momentum," Blaszka said. "There were eight minutes left. I couldn’t be more proud of the whole team."