Four days into the Division 1 boys’ lacrosse tournament, Winchester and Wellesley provided one of the best finishes, with a freshman coming through in the clutch for each side.
Winchester freshman Ryan Martin scored two goals to force overtime, but it was Wellesley freshman James Nolan (four goals, two assists) who came up with the winning play by finding senior Trey Soto for a goal to secure a 10-9 victory in a first-round matchup at Knowlton Stadium in Winchester.
Wellesley (13-6), the 17th seed, advances to the Round of 16 and likely will face top-seeded St. John’s Prep (17-1), the two-time defending state champion.
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“The day after I started scouting Winchester, I said to the players, ‘This is about as balanced of a game as you’re going to get,’ ” said Wellesley coach Jim Connolly. “That’s why you play these games, because they’re fun. Those games can go either way and we got a couple of bounces at the end.”
No. 16 Winchester (15-4) had won 11 of 12 games coming into the tournament, while Wellesley had sputtered down the stretch. The Red & Black took an early 2-1 lead, but neither team could separate, with six ties through the first three quarters.
Nolan delivered three of his goals in the second quarter and found Brody Sharpe (two goals, assist) in the fourth quarter to give the Raiders their biggest lead, 8-6.
“[Nolan] plays like a grown man as a freshman,” said Connolly. “On the offensive end, we’re almost all freshmen and sophomores. It’s impressive stuff.”
Senior Colby Beliveau (five goals) paced the Red & Black offensively, and when he got locked off by a defender, Martin stepped up by scoring with 4:27 and 2:10 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game, 9-9.
While young on offense, Wellesley’s defense is senior-laden, and that unit came up huge in overtime with senior goalie Matt Malone (12 saves) providing a big stop that set up Soto’s goal in semi-transition.
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“I’ve got more trust in this group than any other group I’ve coached,” Connolly said of his senior defenders. “I value their opinion. They’re all smart kids, they’re all going to fantastic schools, and I know they’re going to use that as the springboard for whatever is next.”
Division 2 State
Nauset 17, Wakefield 4 — Seniors Payton Kender and Cooper McIntire each notched four goals, and classmate Quinn Mucha added three for the second-seeded Warriors (16-3) in a first-round triumph.
Silver Lake 8, Nashoba 7 — Noah Palleschi deposited the overtime winner for the No. 18 Lakers (8-9) in a first-round win.
Division 4 State
Cohasset 18, Blue Hills 4 — Senior Rob Norton (five goals, two assists), junior John Shannon (three goals, two assists), and freshman Max Monahan (two goals, assist) led the top-seeded Skippers (16-2) to a first-round win.
Girls’ lacrosse
Division 1 State
Franklin 19, Andover 8 — Nearly two weeks removed from their last game, the No. 7 Panthers (18-3) pounced early on No. 26 Andover, scoring the first five goals in a first-round victory.
“We’ve been practicing against ourselves for a while,” Franklin coach Kristin Guarino said. “So I was really happy with the product that we put on the field.”
Franklin carried a 10-goal lead into halftime against Andover (9-11), receiving contributions from seniors Kaitlyn Carney (six goals, three assists), Katie Peterson (five goals, three assists), Jamie Tanner (four goals), and Lindsay Atkinson (three goals, three assists).
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“It’s awesome that our whole team can contribute,” said Peterson, a UMass commit. “The pressure’s never on one single person.”
Division 3 State
Apponequet 18, Malden Catholic 1 — Cece Levrault racked up six goals and Emilia Keane added three goals in the first-round home win for the eighth-seeded Lakers (14-5).
Greater Lowell 7, Bristol-Plymouth 4 — Julia Canario (two goals, two assists) and Emma Finch (two goals) spearheaded the No. 31 Gryphons (10-7), who overcame a 4-0 halftime deficit to prevail in the preliminary round.
Division 4 State
Stoneham 13, Nashoba Valley Tech 8 — Olivia Scally tallied three goals and Grace Tobias, Ally Carpentieri, and Ava Krasco added two apiece to lead the No. 28 Spartans (6-13) to a preliminary-round win at home.
Ryan Martin reported from Franklin. Correspondents Ethan Fuller, Mike Puzzanghera, Eamonn Ryan, and AJ Traub also contributed to this story.