RallyNorth.net

Thu, Apr 17, 2008 04:00 PM @ Gloucester

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Saugus	3	2	0	0	5
Gloucester	0	2	3	2	7

Six-goal run helps Gloucester defeat Saugus

Friday, April, 18 By Richard Slate
Staff writer

For the rest of the spring, you'd be hard-pressed to find a lacrosse game that more easily fits the "tale of two halves" cliche.

Saugus led at halftime over a lifeless Gloucester team that was searching for its first win of the season.

But In the second half, the roles reversed. The Fishermen (1-3) dominated both ground balls and possession, scoring five goals (six straight overall) and holding the Sachems scoreless en route to a 7-5  win.  

"It was a complete attitude change for the second half," said Gloucester (1-3) head coach Drew Dominick. "It's not like us to lose that many ground balls. We had zero intensity, we got pushed around. Saugus did a good job though, they made some nice plays at the beginning of the game."

Fishermen senior attackmen Jeremy Fanning (four goals) felt he and his teammates might have overlooked Saugus, causing the poor showing in the first half.

"We didn't come prepared, we thought we had the win right off the bat, " said Fanning. "They came out and brought it to us. We just realized that if we didn't turn it around, it was going to be a loss."

Sachems midfielder Rodrigo Henriques opened the scoring in the first quarter before goals from teammates Mike Scuzzarella and Gilson Fernandez gave Saugus a 3-0 lead after one period.

Gloucester got on the board early in the second frame when senior midfielder Nick White scored a goal as the Fishermen were man-up. White walked in and ripped a low shot for the goal.

Saugus regained a three-goal lead when attackman Hudson Henriques spun and shot low past Fishermen junior goalie Shane Stephenson (seven saves).

Soon after, Gloucester senior midfielder Adam Quinn fired a shot that hit the post. After a long possession in the offensive zone, Rodrigo Henriques scored his second goal of the afternoon, giving Saugus its biggest lead of the game at 5-1.

It didn't seem like much at the time but Fanning's goal right before halftime proved to be vital as it kicked off Gloucester's six-goal run.

Still, Dominick and his coaches weren't pleased with their team's effort in the first half. Quinn summed it up well.

"We started out really flat, we just didn't want it at all," said Quinn. "They were killing us at ground balls which we're usually good at. Our coaches were upset at that. In the second half, we played with a lot more passion and started burying our shots, which was huge."

In the third quarter, Gloucester went to work and tied it up at five before the period had even ended. Fanning scored on a wrap-around, Quinn's hard bouncing shot went in and Fanning notched his third tally when nobody picked him up near the Saugus cage.

The Sachems were called for a penalty (push from behind) and the Fishermen made them pay as Quinn put the Fishermen up 6-5 after a nice feed from White.

Rodrigo Henriques had a great chance bounce over the Gloucester goal before Fanning iced it with under two minutes left. Junior defenseman Dylan Morrissey won a ground ball in his own end, ran through midfield and dished it to Fanning, who put it home from right outside the Saugus crease.  

After three straight losses, Gloucester was happy to finally record a win.

"We were really yearning for the win," admitted Fanning. "We're sick of losing, we showed everybody in the conference that we're here to play. It's about time, it's senior year and I want to have a good season."

A team can't play much better defense than Gloucester did in the second half, particularly in the third quarter.

"They didn't get one shot off in the third," Quinn noted. "That's a good jump start for our upcoming games (Monday vs. Salem)."

Dominick hopes that Quinn is right.

"Hopefully we'll get on a little bit of a roll," he said. "We've definitely put ourselves in a hole. We have some potential, kids are getting better."