Cohasset test this Sunday
Lacrosse team looks ahead to benchmark matchup, and to second half of season
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
Approaching the midway point of the season, the Whalers boys' lacrosse team knows that next Sunday's home matchup with defending Division 3 champs Cohasset will be a fitting benchmark for possible postseason play.

"Right now we need to beat the teams we should beat if we intend to make the playoffs," coach Rick Blair said after Saturday's 11-4 loss at home to perennial powerhouse Marshfield.

Coming off wins against Bishop Stang and a 12-4 drubbing of New Bedford, Nantucket looked to end the week with a repeat of last year's victory over Marshfield. The tough, defensive-minded visitors, however, were just as determined to avenge that loss and kept the Whalers in check throughout the contest, building a 7-2 third quarter lead and allowing just two more Nantucket goals before the final gun sounded.

"They were ready for us," Blair said. "They're a very good team. Year in and year out, Marshfield fields one of the best defensive high school programs in the country."

In the end, the young Nantucket offense couldn't overcome the more experienced defensive team. "We had plenty of power play chances, but if you can't convert in extra man opportunities the other team has no incentive to stop fouling you," Blair pointed out.

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent Captain Matt Dunham looks upfield against Marshfield, top. Goalie Keith Clemens, above, turned in another fine performance in net.

The flags were indeed flying during the hotly contested game that saw Gaven Norton score two goals and lone scores by Henry Farrell and Mark Dwyer.

Down, 10-2, near the end of the third period, Norton and Dwyer ended the stanza by scoring within 40 seconds of each other, but that's all the stingy Marshfield defense would allow.

Earlier in the week, the Whalers turned back Bishop Stang, 5-4, when Dwyer scored in overtime, his second goal of the game. Against New Bedford, Dwyer added four goals, while Farrell, Will Martin and Hakeem Lecky all scored two goals in the rout. "We got off to a slow start against New Bedford," Blair noted, "but we scored 6 unanswered goals in the third period and added 3 more in the fourth."

The strong goaltending of Keith Clemens factored in both victories, while the Whaler defense was led all week by John O'Mara and Eric Rogers, who also played well in trying to stem the Marshfield tide.

After Saturday's game, the Whalers' record stood at 4-4 on the season. To Blair, the record stands as testament to the quality of the Whaler's opponents.

"I'd rather get a few bruises against the best teams around then play a soft schedule and never improve," he said.

The team plays away at Bishop Connolly tomorrow before Sunday's big Cohasset showdown. I