The South Portland boys’ lacrosse team ended a two-game losing streak with a 16-8 win over Gorham on Thursday, May 10. The Red Riots got goals from five different players including five by Eugene Arsenault. Alex Dahms and Brady Laughlin led the charge for the Rams with three goals apiece.
“I’ve got to give South Portland a lot of credit. They moved the ball well,” said Gorham coach Ken Templeton. “They were unselfish and really capitalized when our guys were pressuring, by passing the ball and getting some good looks on our goalie. I thought Brian Plowman, our goalie, played exceptionally well today. He made some great saves and cleared the ball well. There were some great individual performances today but our team play wasn’t up where it needed to be.”
The Rams opened the scoring early in the first quarter when Plowman brought the ball up to midfield. He passed to Brady Laughlin who sent the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 Gorham lead.
The Red Riots answered just over a minute later when John Linscott netted his first goal of the game. The Riots then took the lead for good when Sean Murray pocketed his first score. South Portland pushed ahead 3-1 when Arsenault scored for the first time with 3:32 to play in the opening period.
“When we ran our offense and settled down, things went well,” said Riots coach Mike Edgar. “There were big spurts when we ran all over the place. When we settled and played our game and not street ball, the goals started going in.”
Scott Ekin scored for the Rams to get them back within one at 3-2, but Ben Linscott netted another for the Riots to send the teams to the second quarter with South Portland enjoying a 4-2 advantage.
The Riots turned up the heat and put the game out of reach in the third quarter when Ben Linscott and Murray each scored in the first five minutes of the second half. Gorham’s Alex Chase then scored for the Rams to make it an 8-5 game.
South Portland scored four unanswered goals to end the third quarter and essentially put the game away. In a three-minute span, Arsenault scored twice while Ben and John Linscott each added a score. After three, the Red Riots held a 12-5 advantage.
“The third quarter was a big one for them,” said Templeton. “That was where they seemed to seal the game. I’m just proud of our guys; our body language and our intensity in the fourth quarter. Even though it was a long shot we wanted to win every little possession. That’s important and it speaks a lot to the character of these guys. They are a lot of fun to coach.”
Laughlin got Gorham on the board again midway through the fourth to cut the deficit to six. After Sam Harmon stretched it to seven again for the Riots, the Rams got a little momentum going. Dahms scored with 4:01 to go and Laughlin followed that with his third goal of the game less than a minute later. Laughlin’s goal made it a 13-8 game and breathed new life into the Rams.
“At the beginning of the fourth we gave up a couple of goals and gave them a resurgence,” said Edgar. “Then we scored again and stopped it. That was important to stop their momentum. One thing these guys haven’t learned yet is how to finish a team and let them know they aren’t coming back. Controlling the play and showing them that they won’t have the ball long enough to score is important.”
After a timeout, the Riots scored three times in the final three minutes of the game.
“We’re taking one game at a time,” Edgar said. “We really played all the top teams in the standings already so we’re just taking one game at a time and trying to get above .500. We want to get a higher seed in the playoffs. So we’re trying to keep building toward the playoffs and peak in the playoffs. That’s our goal.”
As for Gorham, they are still trying to improve with each game.
“We need to maintain that attitude of intensity and put it together with some fundamentals and nuts and bolts,” Templeton said. “There won’t be any easy games this year and that’s the fun part. I have a lot of confidence in these guys that we can right the ship.”
Bonny Eagle 8 Westbrook 7
Bonny Eagle won for the third time this season taking an 8-7 victory over visiting Westbrook on Friday, May 11. Jesse Doehler led the Scots with five goals.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
