KENNEBUNK — Patience may be a virtue, but it’s also a winning lacrosse strategy.
Kennebunk stuck to its offensive plan, and was eventually rewarded with a 9-5 win over Massabesic, in an SMAA boys lacrosse tilt.
Sean Finn scored three goals and had a hand in two others, to help the Rams even their record at 2-2.
Massabesic, which was off to one of the program’s strongest starts, fell to 3-1.
Goals were scarce at the start, as the Rams led by just 1-0 after one quarter, while Massabesic held a slim, 3-2 advantage at halftime.
“We were down in the first half,” said Foley, “but luckily we just bounced back. We had it in us. We just weren’t playing our game.”
The contest was scoreless until 9:47 had elapsed, when Nick Ames connected from the right wing.
That was answered 1:20 into the second quarter by Massabesic’s Brandon Colby, whose tally was similar to the one scored by Ames.
It took Kennebunk just 15 seconds to regain the lead, 2-1, when Finn whipped in a right hander from 15 yards out, his first of three in the contest.
Before the half was out, however, Jordan Levesque and Stephen Chaves both scored within a 49 second span to give the Mustangs their first lead.
“The first half,” said Kennebunk coach Vinny LoBello, “we must have thrown the ball away a million times. Forcing turnovers. We wanted the guys to go hard to the cage. But you’ve got to realize that when there’s nothing there, you pull it out and regroup.”
Kennebunk netted all three goals scored in the third quarter, and eased out to a 5-3 lead.
Sean Foley polished off a feed from Finn to tie the game, 3-3, 2:54 into the third.
Massabesic netminder Tyler Fournier preserved the deadlock with a stellar stop ”“ one of his 19 saves ”“ on Finn.
“He was unbelievable,” said Massabesic coach Mark Levesque. “He picked it up today. He’d been struggling before, but he showed us what he could do. I’m shocked.”
However, at 3:31, Clayton Spang threaded a shot through a screen to give the Rams the lead, once more.
Moments later, Kennebunk freshman goalie Ben Bath (11 saves) pulled off an eye-popping stop on Patrick Wyman.
That was followed by Finn’s second of the game, which put the Rams up by two goals.
Kennebunk opened up a 9-4 lead in the final stanza before Ames closed the scoring with 1:37 remaining in the game.
Both teams will return to action Saturday, with the Rams set to host Scarborough, while Massabesic will welcome Portland.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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