Westbrook dominated the first year Massabesic boys lacrosse team on Tuesday, April 24, in Waterboro as the Blazes blitzed the Mustangs for a 13-1 win.
“It’s a big confidence booster,” said Westbrook captain Layne Graffam. “We came off three years of no win seasons and this is a great win.”
The Blazes wasted little time flexing their muscles as Kyle Barrows scored the game’s first goal just over a minute into the first quarter. (Barrows finished the day with two scores.) Just a few minutes after the Barrows goal, the Blazes struck again on a breakaway.
Massabesic’s Nick Lund then fought his way through traffic and fired a shot that found the net. Lund’s goal made it a 2-1 game, but that was as close as the Mustangs would get.
“We shuttled in eight defensemen today,” said Blazes coach Isaac Treem. “They all did their job. From one through eight they did their job so I’m very pleased with the way they played. And we’re starting a freshman goalie so this was his first real game action. For them to step up and play the way they did in front of him, it only breeds more confidence.”
Westbrook stretched their lead back to two goals near the end of the first quarter when Graffam tallied his first goal of the game. Graffam would later score again in the second half.
“(Graffam) is a born leader with a desire to win,” Treem said. “You can’t teach that kind of stuff and that kind of heart. But we’ve got a bunch of guys like that.”
The Blazes stretched their lead to six goals in the second quarter thanks to Barrows and Zachary Welch picking up their second scores. Anthony Cook got in on the action with a goal and Joe Blais scored as halftime approached to make it a 7-1 game.
“We did a lot of little things wrong,” said Mustangs coach Mark Levesque. “But we started getting it by the fourth quarter. We’ve got to work on little things. It’s the second time out from the gym, so we’re rusty. Our defense has a lot of work to do. But my biggest disappointment was that we couldn’t scoop the ball up.”
The Blazes continued attacking after the break and they added four more goals in the third quarter. Graffam started things off in the third with another goal and Welch completed his hat trick with a third quarter score to make it 9-1. Cooke scored again and Robbie Beaton added a goal to make it 11-1 after three quarters.
The Mustangs tried in vain to keep the game close but were stuffed by Westbrook’s defense every time they crossed midfield.
“Our starting midfield Elliot, (LaMarre) Chris, (Marston) and Layne (Graffam) dominated today,” said Treem. “We’ve got three defensemen back there that were a wall, so it was the whole team. Our whole team is a bunch of athletes that have a bunch of heart.”
In the final quarter the Blazes tacked on two more goals from Marston and LaMarre to make it 13-1 and give Westbrook their first win of the year..
“I’m impressed,” Treem said. “I’m happy. What can I say? We won a game. It’s better than we did last year. It’s impressive the way the guys played today. It’s exciting and it’s promising for the future.”
Coach Levesque knows where his Mustang team needs to improve.
“Our defense has to learn to take the guy a little bit sooner than sitting back like they did,” he said. “Midfielders have to learn to run up the field faster and pass the ball a lot faster than we did. We didn’t pass the ball the first quarter at all. There are a lot of positives too. The kids never gave up, they played hard the whole game and that’s what I expect. I told them to keep their heads up. It will get better. We’ll be playing them again and it will be different next time.”
Meanwhile Treem’s team will look to build off this win and get on a roll.
“We’re trying to change the atmosphere here and trying to create a winning program,” Treem said. “It feels good to get a victory. This is my first season coaching so it’s good to start a season like this.”
For veterans like Graffam who have suffered through those winless campaigns, Tuesday’s win was as sweet as could be.
“We’ve got a new coach who’s doing a lot with the program and helping us step up,” he said. “In the past, kids have come with no experience at all and he’s teaching everybody the basics. It’s making everyone better – even the guys that have played for years. The fact that we have a bunch of kids that want to win helps a lot. Our team goal is to go .500, but I think we can do better than that by at least two games. It’s a good feeling.”
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