BV Lax Pounds Portsmouth Abbey
Exeter boys’ varsity lacrosse is up by one goal in the first quarter and the defenseman, senior Andrew Geppert, locks up on his Portsmouth Abbey School attacker. The visiting team attempts to pass the ball around in settled offense, but the attack player doesn’t get far before Geppert steals the ball and hauls upfield. From there, senior Andrew McGurrin makes a cut through the 8 and receives the ball to score an incredible backhand goal. In a 8-2 win, Big Red had many outstanding goals and standout plays to help them secure a win, contributing to its successful start of the season.
By the end of the first quarter, Exeter had already amassed five goals. Prep Griffin Walker spoke highly of the team’s success, saying, “We were really hyped up and excited as a team going out in the first quarter, especially after putting up 5 in the first because we came out very slow in our last game against Proctor.”
Senior Seth Bowman echoed Walker’s sentiments, describing the first quarter as “very energetic.” He also added that the energy helped drive the team to success on Saturday stating, “The team was energetic and involved from start to finish.”
Not only was the team enthuastic on the field, but the sidelines also helped Big Red capture the win. Senior Wyatt Foster said, “Seth Bowman did an unmatched job keeping the bench fired up and engaged the whole time, definitely the captain of Team Sideline Rage.”
The team was clearly better prepared for the game than Portsmouth Abbey School, and took advantage of its lead to practice settled offense. Griffin described this momentum, saying,“We slowed the game down and took control.”
The first two goals were scored by postgraduate Paul Miller, followed by McGurrin putting away two more and finally postgraduate Chris Fowler making the final goal of the quarter, finishing out an impressive streak for Big Red.
The team also had a star showing from several defenseman. Bowman described some of these outstanding players, saying, “Andrew Geppert had a very good game, as did our other star defenseman [senior] Jake Calnan. The opposing team remarked on how talented the two of them were on defense, especially with takeaways and ground balls.”
Lower Danny Colón also praised Geppert and Calnan’s performances. “Our defense played well and we forced a lot of turnovers thanks to Geppert, Calnan and AJ,” Colón said. He also highlighted the attacks’ roles on the field, saying, “Our attack moved the ball really well, there were a lot of assisted goals and we work on a lot of transition play during practice. It definitely showed in the game and it’s a strong aspect of our team. McGurrin and Walker also had some really sweet goals which helped put us ahead.”
So far, boys’ varsity lacrosse has a 2-1 record and hopes to continue their recent streak of consecutive home game wins. “Looking ahead,” Bowman said, “we have a super busy schedule, so we plan to utilize our numbers to keep fresh legs on the field.”
Exeter fans can come out and support the boys on Saturday at Phelps Stadium in their next match-up. Senior and co-captain Tanner McGowan remains optimistic about the team’s success for its upcoming games. “As far as the next game goes, we play Governor’s on Saturday,” he said. “We’re looking to come out with intensity and focus just like we have with every other game.”
Bowman shared similar ideas regarding the rest of the season, saying, “We’re looking to continue to come together as a team so that we can take our many talented players and get them to work inside a system that will make the team very strong and very challenging opponent.”