Goffstown boys lacrosse needs late run to beat Windham (video)

WINDHAM – Josh Lewis has been waiting for the Goffstown High School boys lacrosse team to get out of a funk.

It may have started to happen Monday against Windham.

The Grizzlies got off to a fast start, but saw the Jaguars come back to tie the game 7-7 early in the fourth quarter before Goffstown went on a 3-0 spurt and held on for a 10-9 win.

It was the sixth one-goal game of the season for the Grizzlies, including each of the last three, and just the sixth time this season that they’ve scored in double digits.

“We’ve had rough game after rough game,” Lewis said. “Our defense has been pretty solid, but our offense just hasn’t been able to jell since before school vacation. We got up early and we kind of sat back on our heels. They have some great athletes on their team. The same issues that plague us all season, we’re getting better at, and this game was a testament of the progress we have made so far.”

Stephen Dubois led the way for the Grizzlies (9-2) with five goals and an assist, including what proved to be the game-winner with 6:16 to play. That goal capped a 3-0 run that came in a span of 2:20 after Windham had the game at 7 with 10:45 remaining.

Nicholas Ollila also had two goals, both of which came on that fourth-quarter run, and had an assist while Peyton Bickford (assist), Damian Jackson (assist) and Peter Girard added a goal each. Colin Holt made 11 saves.

Windham (8-5) got three goals from Matt Shea and Steven Bernabei added two goals. But the Jaguars got off to another slow start, and although they were able to tie the game, it proved to be too much of a hole to overcome.

“It seems like every time we had an opportunity and we didn’t cash in, they’d come down at the other end and did,” Windham coach Jason Rozembersky said. “Sometimes the breaks go your way and sometimes they don’t. They jumped on us and they hit some great shots. Their goals were quality goals and you’ve got to give them credit. We came back one at a time and just fell a little short at the end. We had the possession to potentially get it.”

Goffstown led 6-2 at halftime and led by three after a goal by Shea 2:01 into the third quarter. That’s where it stood until the Jaguars pumped in two goals in 24 seconds to make it 6-5 with 4:42 left in the frame.

“Momentum definitely shifted their way in the third,” Lewis said. “We came out strong but it snowballed in their direction and that’s how it goes with the game. They got fired up and started making great plays. Our guys started getting a little bit, shall we say, fancy, and started to try to stickcheck rather than play body, play tough, hard-nosed defense, and they avoided those mistakes.”

Dubois scored with 2:24 left in the quarter to give the Grizzlies some breathing room, but Windham tied the game with two goals in the first 1:15 of the fourth. Goffstown won the ensuing faceoff, but turned the ball over and the Jaguars moved down the field in transition.

Windham had the Grizzlies beat down the field, but a pass to Noah Rust, who was at the edge of the crease, was off the mark and the ball went out of bounds.

Goffstown went right back down the field and Ollila scored twice in 1:37 to put the Grizzlies back up 9-7. Dubois made it 10-7 on his final goal with 6:16 left, but Bernabei scored 11 seconds later to get the lead back to two.

Shea got Windham within a goal with 53.3 seconds left and the Jaguars won the ensuing faceoff, but after working the ball around, they turned it over for being in the crease with 11.4 seconds to play.

“We just played with a little more emotion (because) we came out flat,” Rozembersky said. “That third quarter, we said one goal at time, we’re going to stop them. We really buttoned down defensively in the second half. That’s when we went on a run. We closed the gap in the third, but when you’re going into it down, it doesn’t help.”