RallyNorth.net

Fri, May 02, 2008 04:00 PM @ Newburyport

Team	Final
Ipswich	11
Newburyport	6

Rusty Newburyport can't fend off division rival Tigers

Saturday, May, 03 By Evan Mugford
Staff writer

The Newburyport boys lacrosse team, which had reached the 4-4 mark before April vacation week began, was a squad that looked as if it was turning a corner for a strong push for the tourney. After beating River Rival foes Pentucket and Georgetown, a break after a couple hard-fought victories just might have been what the doctor had ordered.

However, after Newburyport fell for the second time since coming back from the week's vacation, the prognosis might have been a little lengthy.

The Clippers lost to the Cape Ann League Division 2 leading Ipswich Tigers, 11-6, at home yesterday, and were suddenly back below .500, a place they struggled so hard just weeks before to leave behind.

Clippers coach Ed Gaudiano said the April vacation without any games not only hurt his team, but allowed it to revert back to early-season form.

"I think we're still knocking off the rust, so to speak," explained Gaudiano. "Ipswich is a good team and we just made too many mistakes. When we play well we can play with those guys, but when we shoot ourselves in the foot and miss some really easy plays, this is the result."

At the start of the game, both teams resembled that old 10-speed in the corner of everyone's garage: flat and rusty. The Clippers and the Tigers were having a difficult time passing and catching, and in turn, were both missing solid opportunities to attack the net.

Ipswich got the ball rolling first when, following a nice pass from Tigers goalie Zach Pinciaro (16 saves), Pete McGrath found the back of the net for the game's first tally. Tiger Cobb Mathey continued the onslaught when he scored two goals, one at 2:14 and the other at 1:20 to push Ipswich up 3-0.

Despite the deficit, the Clippers scored a goal with two seconds remaining that could be nominated for ESPN "SportsCenter's" Top 10 Plays.

Clipper Kevin Ryan, from behind his own net, launched a dead-center, full-length heave in hopes of finding an eager teammate for a last-second goal. Perhaps losing the ball in the gray sky, Pinciaro was helpless. The pass, rather than finding a home in a Clipper's pocket, ricocheted off of the Tigers netminder and dribbled in for possibly the longest goal in Clippers history.

The Tigers started the second a man up, but stingy defense by Newburyport kept the them from adding anymore goals. The Clippers made the game interesting, 3-2, at the 7:20 mark thanks to a Steve Matses goal, but the Tigers answered back a minute and a half later. Port goalie Dean Cataldo (14 saves) had a good game and made some really nice saves, but as the game wore on, so did the Tigers attack. Ipswich scored again with 42 seconds left in the half and boosted its lead to 5-2 by half.

The start of the third quarter was bedlam, as five goals (Paul Van Schyndel 3, Mathey and Sam Wilbur) were scored in the first two minutes of play. The Clippers counted with only one, a nice shot by Corey Ruane (2 goals, assist) at 11:11. Ipswich scored another at the 7:54 mark and pushed its lead to 10-3. The Clippers scored one more with 25 seconds left, another Ruane tally from Andrew Sokol (goal and assist).

Newburyport added two more goals in the fourth, one at 10:08 by Ethan Machurat from Bruce Pollard and another with 44 seconds remaining by Sokol from Ruane. The Tigers tacked on one more, but ultimately played it safe by playing keep away and passing the ball around.

Tigers coach Glenn Foster was happy with how his team responded to a tough loss against Triton earlier in the week.

"I thought we gave away the Triton game, but we played well enough today for the win," said Foster. "Paul played very well and those three goals he scored in the beginning of the third really helped give us some distance."

"Our execution needs to catch up to where it was before vacation," said Gaudiano. "That long lay off didn't help us, but it's not the end of the line yet. We'll get better."