Tag Archives: Wellesley

Jun 9 2012

Mass HS Lax Recap: Wellesley 9, Hingham 7

By Brian Willwerth 

HINGHAM – The Wellesley High School boy’s lacrosse team is going to Harvard.

Backed by a stellar defensive effort in the second half, the fourth-seeded Raiders defeated top-seeded Hingham on Saturday afternoon, 9-7, in the Division 2 East semifinals.

Wellesley held the Harbormen scoreless for nearly the entire second half, too.

While the Raiders’ defense – led by senior goalie Connor Darcey – dominated the second half of play, the game started out as an offensive explosion.

With a big crowd looking on at Hingham High School, Wellesley opened the scoring. But Hingham struck very quickly four straight times, two of them coming from Noah Ellis, but the Raiders rallied to tie the game at 4 with three straight goals of their own.

After Hingham’s Kevin Blair scored the first goal of the second quarter to give the Harbormen the lead again, the Raiders took control, as Andrew Volkmann gave Wellesley a 6-5 lead at halftime.

“We came out of the timeout, held our own, and fought back to get a lead,” said Wellesley head coach Rocky Batty. “That’s one of those gut checks for a team that hasn’t had to have a gut-check for awhile.”

“They had four early and they could’ve had 30 at that pace,” added Batty.

In the second half, Wellesley scored the next three goals to take a 9-5 advantage deep into the fourth quarter, then survived a frantic final two minutes in which the Harbormen cut the lead to 9-7 with 41 seconds remaining. But Hingham would get no closer.

“Usually I defer to the defense instead of the goalie,” said Batty of his team’s ability to keep Hingham off the scoreboard for a long period of time. “Darcey saved the hard ones today. He was sensational.”

Peter Crane and Oliver Saffery had a pair of goals each for Wellesley, while Ellis scored twice for Hingham.

The win sends Wellesley to the final against Concord-Carlisle on Wednesday at Harvard Stadium.  Game time is 5:30 p.m.

May 17 2012

Mass High School Lax Recap: Wellesley Defeats Newton North

By Hayden Bird 

NEWTON, MA – Behind sharp defense and impressive goalkeeping, Wellesley high school’s boys lacrosse defeated Newton North on Wednesday, 7-0.

Wellesley (14-3) appeared to be the stronger team for a majority of the afternoon, but it was the home team, Newton North (11-4), which got the first effort on goal. Although, after the early nerves settled, it was the visitors from Wellesley, who opened the scoring behind midfielder Brian Pedersen.

Within minutes, the Raiders doubled their lead behind another midfielder by the name of Oliver Saffery, who executed a perfect catch and shoot into the lower third of the goal.

“I was really happy with our offense,” said Wellesley head coach Rocky Batty. “They did a couple of the things we’ve been working on for the last few weeks. They clicked a lot more.”

Yet it was Wellesley’s defense which accounted for much of the early success.

“I thought the defense played really well today,” noted Batty. “Guys were coming off the field tired, but that just meant they left it on the field. I thought the entire unit on the defense played big today.”

And even when Newton North managed to snipe a random shot, Wellesley goalie Connor Darcey was ready.

Darcey exhibited his customary versatility against Tigers throughout the game. Still, it was his work as a goalie, which made the difference.

Shot after Newton shot was turned away, and his distribution was well taken too, igniting counterattacks.

But Batty was quick to credit his defense as a whole.

“He is as valuable as the defense in front of him is, and that’s the reality. We weigh them all equally. Connor Darcy’s fantastic, he’ll tell you himself, but he sees shots he can save,” added Batty.

Right at the end of the half, Wellesley exhibited a great move that involved Pedersen, who found John Caraviello, who in-turn found attacker Peter Crane for the score.

The movement came so quickly and fluidly that Crane was nearly wide-open, and he predictably buried the ball in the net, leaving only nine seconds on the clock.

The second half began with renewed vigor from Newton North, who pelted Darcey with a series of shots.

“Newton North is a very, very good team,” said Batty. “They challenged us.”

Darcey, however, was more than up to the challenge, saving time and again.

Even when he turned the ball over after making a save, he immediately made yet another save.

By the end of the third quarter, Wellesley’s momentum was beginning strangle the game. Three goals came in quick succession from Kerry Lyne, Saffery and Pedersen.

The final quarter of play was quiet, with Crane adding one more to round out the scoring at 7-0 before the game ended.

“Were getting there” said Batty afterward. “We’re not there yet though.”

May 11 2012

Mass High School Lax: Duxbury Marches Past Wellesley, 9-3

By Hayden Bird

DUXBURY, MA – In a game that was billed as two of the top teams in Massachusetts’ high school lacrosse, Duxbury (15-2) asserted themselves with typical confidence, and marched past Wellesley to a comfortable 9-3 victory.

Wellesley (12-3) came into the contest riding a seven-game winning streak, including impressive victories over Norwood and Medfield in recent weeks.

Yet when tested with an away game at Duxbury, Wellesley fell prey to intricate passing and stifling defense.

“They’re a really good team and they’ve got great players and are well coached,” noted Duxbury head coach Chris Sweet. “You know we had to play really well to beat them today.”

Duxbury dominated possession early on and ruthlessly fought to regain control in the instances when it was lost.

Midfielders like Andrew Buron, Cam Mullins, Henry Narlee and Jon Gomer, (among several others) all scrapped with their Wellesley counterparts in an early bid to seize the initiative.

By the second quarter, Duxbury had largely done this, as back-to-back goals from attacker Seamus Connelly stretched their lead to 6-1.

Connelly, a senior, was a fixture in Duxbury’s offense, which continuously cycled possession before exploiting gaps in Wellesley’s defensive structure.

Still, the obvious development of the game was on the other end of the field. Not so much from an event or series of events as it was the lack of events.

Suffocating Duxbury defense ensured that it was a light workday for goalie Henry Buonagurio.

“It made it easy for Buonagurio today,” Sweet said afterward.

By halftime, Wellesley was looking second best and Duxbury coaches could be overheard stressing that their team not lose focus.

Senior Duxbury defenseman Matt O’Keefe implored his teammates to keep up their impressive start.

“Let’s keep it at one goal,” said O’Keefe. “Let’s make a statement.”

The second half brought more possession for Wellesley, though they failed to capitalize on it. And before the Wellesley players could begin to sort out the five goal deficit they faced, the deficit increased to six.

Courtesy of senior attacker Will Siefert, Duxbury made it 7-1. Only then, with the game all but out of reach, did Wellesley respond.

Midfielder Reed Westerman scored off an assist from Peter Crane to cut the deficit to five once again.

Unfortunately for the away fans though, it proved too little too late.

Duxbury’s incessant midfield slowly, but surely ground down the game, passing their opponent’s chances in the game to death.

“We were just trying to take advantage of our defense and be really patient on offense, take care of the ball and not make mistakes that give the ball back to the other team,” said Sweet.

The final quarter brought no change in the result, (Duxbury continued to dominate), but did bring arguably the most interesting and bizarre play of the game.

Wellesley goalie Connor Darcey, one of the finest high school players at his position in the state, showed remarkable skill and versatility as he charged up field and scored for the Raiders, making the score, 8-3.

It was a stunning move, surely not an everyday occurrence in any sport that utilizes a goalie, let alone lacrosse. Yet it proved inconsequential to the result of the game.

One more goal from Connelly rounded out the day as Duxbury finished a 9-3 winner.

It marked the 30th consecutive win Duxbury has recorded against Massachusetts opponents, dating back to the end of the 2010 season.