Fast start lifts Hollis Brookline boys lacrosse past Timberlane

HOLLIS – Fast starts haven’t been the norm for the Hollis Brookline High School boys lacrosse team this season.

But against Timberlane on Monday, the Cavaliers got the ball rolling early and often, as they outscored the Owls 5-0 in the first quarter and held on for a 14-9 win in a Division II game.

The start of the game was delayed about 25 minutes, as an accident caused the Owls’ bus to get stuck in traffic on the way to Hollis. When the game finally got started – around the same time that the second quarter may have been getting underway – the Cavs were ready to go.

“It was great to get out of the gate quickly,” HB coach Rich MacDonough said. “We’ve had struggles getting a fast start. We were prepared and we took advantage of what we thought would be in front of us. That’s why we were up 5-0 and we closed out the deal, which was nice.”

Ryan Olson scored four goals and had an assist to lead the offense for HB (13-3), which won its 10th game in a row. Derek Davidson added three goals and two assists and helped the Cavs win 19 of 27 faceoffs, while Will Crosby had two goals and two assists.

Nick Hinchliffe also had two goals and Alex Tamposi added a goal and two assists while George Driscoll and Colin Loftus had a goal apiece. Garrett Moloney made 12 saves for HB, including a handful of big stops in the first quarter to keep Timberlane (7-5) off the board.

At the other end, after a shaky start, Owls goalie Nathan Taylor came up with some key saves of his own, making seven of his 15 stops in the first quarter.

“He’s been great for us all season,” Timberlane coach Ken Blaszka said. “It’s another layer for him. We didn’t get off the bus for the first quarter and gave up five goals. We didn’t play a great game the rest of the way. I thought we played with some passion, but we have yet to play our best lacrosse, and that was evident.”

Christopher Earl had three goals for the Owls and Cameron Murphy and Mike Bowman had two goals apiece. Vaughn Bourassa (assist) and Cody Fleming also scored for Timberlane.

Davidson started the scoring 1:40 into the game to give the Cavs a 1-0 lead, and Olson and Loftus scored 1:18 apart to make it 3-0 with seven minutes left in the first quarter.

The Owls won the ensuing faceoff and recorded their first shot of the game, but Moloney came up with the save, and moments later, Timberlane was called for a penalty. Hinchliffe was 16 seconds after the man-up started to make it 4-0 and Olson got his second goal with 39 seconds left in the quarter for the 5-0 cushion.

“We buried it when we had to, we made the checks when we had to, and there were times when we could have gotten chippy and we didn’t,” MacDonough said. “One thing that was pleasant, we pushed it in transition. Our off-ball movement was correct, our spacing was good, and we laser-passed. Instead of trying to paint the ball into a spot, we zipped it. When that happens, it’s tough for any defense to rotate.”

Timberlane scored three goals in a span of 2:05 in the second quarter to make it a 5-3 game, but the Cavs got two of those back before halftime. The Owls got two more quick ones to open the second half, scoring twice in 28 seconds, but again HB answered with two goals in the next minute to make it 9-5.

“Two steps forward, two steps back,” Blaszka said. “We’ve got to play better. I know we can hang with these teams and play with them. It’s a matter of finishing the season well and looking at the tournament.”