Boys’ Lacrosse Defeats Portsmouth Abbey: Strong Offensive Lineup Scores 17 Points
The boys’ lacrosse team won their game against Portsmouth Abbey School last Saturday, finishing with a remarkable final score of 17-3. After a tough loss to Proctor Academy on the previous Wednesday, the team stepped up their intensity, and with the aid of a home turf advantage, were able to come out with a win.
Much of the success of the team was rooted in their practices on Thursday and Friday leading up to the game, during which “the team really rebounded well, bringing 110 percent to practice,” according to upper Alistair Matule. Lower Peyton Weatherbie agreed. “We decided as a team that we needed to take our intensity in practice up a couple notches to translate to the game and that’s what we did,” he said.
“For the upcoming games I believe we’re looking to do the same thing and keep up the intensity at practice.”
One of the ways in which the team increased its efforts to improve during these practices was through a new point system created by one of the co-captains, Jason Corcoran. The team member who accumulated the most points for good plays in defense received a reward, which helped focus and drive the players. Furthermore, the coach emphasized to the team that serious work needed to be done before Saturday’s game. “The leadership of the captains and coach Glennon really contributed to our intensity against Portsmouth Abbey,” Matule said. This paid off for the boys because when it came to game time, “[they] were focused and hungry,” according to Weatherbie.
Due to their hard work and energy, the team ended up playing one of their strongest games yet this season. After losing key player upper Bradley Ingersoll to an injury, upper Myles Haigney was moved from attack to midfield. This was changed to get more shots on net and generate greater offensive flow; both offense and defense were important during the game. Weatherbie noted that the seventeen goals scored were, for the most part, distributed fairly equally around the offense, which demonstrated the versatility and strength of the team’s attackmen.
“The entire starting attack [postgraduate Andrew Bowman, senior Jimmy Young and lower Jack Pimental] did a great job of creating offense and had a lot of goals and assists,” upper Jack Young said. Nevertheless, Bowman once again emerged as a driving force for Exeter, scoring six goals against a tough goalie. “The great performance from Andrew [Bowman] really helped the team take off after a mere 2-1 lead after the first quarter,” Matule explained.
In addition, defense played a crucial role in the team’s win. “Portsmouth Abbey’s strength was in their attack and our defense still shut them down,” lower Ty Deery said. Postgraduate Daniel Ozizmir stepped up as one of the best defensive players during the game, according to Deery. Working together with the rest of team, the midfield also contributed to the overall success, clearing the ball and dodging with great skill.
All in all, the team saw their hard work and motivation pay off and got to play one of their best games yet. “The team played really well together and continued to be aggressive even after we took a few goal lead,” senior Jack Young said. Matule went on to say that “we were able to play hard, fast and smart, in the words of Coach Glennon, as a result of our dedication and hard work rebounding after the Proctor loss.”
As the team prepares for its game against Dexter School this Saturday, it hopes to keep up their work ethic and focused mentality, while continuing to steadily improve. “For the upcoming games I believe we’re looking to do the same thing and keep up the intensity at practice,” Weatherbie said.