Woodstock
Surrendering the Vermont Division I contest’s first seven goals and eight of the initial 10, the hosts were blown out, 14-5, by a rival they beat earlier this season. Woodstock won only two of the first 11 faceoffs, successfully cleared its end twice in seven first-quarter attempts and scored twice during eight man-up opportunities.
“We didn’t really bring it today, and that’s been part of our problem the whole season,” said goaltender Coleman McKaig, who made 10 saves, but also surrendered some soft goals. “We need more focus and preparation in the locker room beforehand.
“We have to know what we want to do out there before we even tie our cleats. We need to grind starting at 9 a.m., not at 11.”
Burr & Burton scored the first quarter’s lone goal, but exploded during the second stanza. The Bulldogs tallied after 12 and 45 seconds and again at the two-minute and 2:24 marks. Two more goals soon came 27 seconds apart and the game’s second half was anticlimactic.
“Top to bottom, offense to defense, we did not play well,” said Woodstock coach Brandon Little, whose team is 5-5. “Burr & Burton came with a lot of desire and we didn’t match it. We made too many mental mistakes and didn’t capitalize when the game was close.”
Woodstock made the score 7-2 a little more than two minutes before halftime on goals by Lucas Piconi and Daniel Robinson. Jackson Wood and Robinson made it 8-4 just 42 seconds after intermission, but their team surrendered the third quarter’s final three goals and three more during the fourth. Patrick Bald had the Wasps’ other tally, as well as an assist. Also earning single assists were Wood, Jonas Kantola and Piconi.
Little said that although faceoff man Gordon McMaster was consistently clamping his stick head atop the ball first, his teammates weren’t able to capitalize once he flipped it away from his Bulldogs counterpart. Once the Wasps did gain possession, they were too quick to shoot and jittery enough that poor passing led to turnovers.
McKaig said Wasps defenders failed to back each other up and didn’t switch quickly and accurately enough. When balls popped loose in the home end, it was Burr & Burton (7-4) that scooped them up and the Bullodgs were able to wind up for powerful shots without a defender near them.
“I saw a lot of shots today and let a lot of them in, but I can’t do it without the D,” said McKaig, a senior and first-year starter who played defense last year after two seasons in the junior varsity nets. “When they don’t show up, it’s hard for me to stay positive and keep rallying the boys.”
So what happened the first time the teams met, a 9-7 Woodstock victory?
“We came out strong and started burying them in the first quarter and then held them off,” McKaig said. “Today, they did the same thing to us. They really wanted this one and they showed it.”
The result cast a small pall over the hours before Woodstock’s senior prom, held Saturday night. But, as Little noted, probably not for long.
“I told them they’re lucky that they’re high school boys and they’ll have forgotten about this later tonight,” the coach said with a small smile. “Me? I’ll be up late, thinking about where I could have called a timeout to change the game.”
Woodstock hosts Middlebury on Monday. The Wasps lost their first meeting to the Tigers by a goal.
Notes: Among those in attendance was former Wasps attackman Andrew Kimbell, who just completed his junior year at St. Lawrence University in upstate N.Y. Kimbell said he may join the school’s club lacrosse team for his final year. … Also watching was 2015 Woodstock graduate and Barnard resident Nemo Wood, now working at his family’s maple syrup company and a member of his town’s emergency services department. … Laxpower.com’s most recent rankings of 564 high school boys lacrosse teams and where are schools land: Hanover (92), Kearsarge (141), Kimball Union (245), Woodstock (255), Hartford (334), Lebanon (411), Randolph (517) and Stevens (541). … Lacrosse referees in Vermont are paid $75 for a varsity game and $45 for a junior varsity contest. They’re also reimbursed for the mileage they drive to and from schools.