Ipswich laxmen capture defensive battle, knocks out Hamilton-Wenham

Jun. 19—IPSWICH — It was a test of character.

Without three of its top offensive weapons because of various injuries, Glenn Foster challenged his Ipswich High boys lacrosse team Friday to find a way to adapt and get it done in its playoff opener — against their arch rivals from Hamilton-Wenham, no less. That meant guys playing out of position, some of them toiling more minutes than usual, and others asked to step into key roles.

Thanks to a team-wide commitment to defense and 13 saves from goaltender Jonah Orroth, the Tigers made it work by taking down the Generals, 5-3, in a Division 3 North first round contest at Jack Welch Field.

When defenseman-turned long-pole middie Cade McAdams rocketed a shot into the Hamilton-Wenham net for his first point of the season, coming with under 10 minutes to play and giving his club a three-goal lead, both the Tiger sidelines and stands erupted. It was an example of what Foster had asked of his squad: embrace being uncomfortable and do what's needed to help us win.

"We were without Henry (Wright), Jayden (Halecki) and Micah (Galuski) and at a small school like ours, sometimes that means turning to the bench and a sophomore or a freshman has to come in and try to pick up the slack," said veteran Tigers' head coach Glenn Foster, his third seeded club improving to 11-1. They'll now host another Cape Ann League squad, Triton, Sunday in the sectional quarterfinals (noon).

"That's why it was so important that Jonah was lights out, which was exactly what you needed. Of those 13 saves, I'd say at least a half-dozen were really big ones. And our defense was terrific."

McAdams certainly had his runs defensively, but so did mainstays Cole Terry and Egan Davidson and, coming off the bench to provide some excellent play, Tony Parro.

Ned Donovan, the team's ace faceoff man, was asked to do his primary job as well as a lot of time as an offensive mid with both Wright and Galuski out. Ziggy McCormick, a team captain who normally fills a vital role as a defensive middie, was also asked to step up offensively and did, contributing an assist.

Ipswich's man-down group (McAdams, Davidson, Terry, Tony Parro, McCormick, when needed, Dexter Cayer) didn't allow a goal, either, killing two big penalties in the fourth quarter when Hamilton-Wenham was pressing for a score.

"We did a really nice job defensively not overextending ourselves or going after their sticks," said Foster, who will coach in career game No.600 Sunday. "We did a good job backing up the guy making the slide, and the communication was much better than it had been even in our last game against them (2 1/2 weeks ago). We didn't leave them with two many options offensively."

Hamilton-Wenham's goaltender, senior captain Grant Landon, was even busier in his net, turning aside 18 shots in an excellent performance as Ipswich had possession for up to 80 percent of the time in the first half alone. But the Generals just couldn't muster enough offense to advance, producing just two goals in the second quarter and another in the fourth with 3:35 remaining.

"Grant's amazing; I've been saying all season he's a Division 1 (college) goalie," said first-year H-W head coach Richard Cooke, whose team finished its season 4-8 (with three of those losses the result of forfeitures after the Generals had won those games initially). "We just couldn't possess and we couldn't score.

"The hardest thing for us has been breaking that 'isolation offense' mindset," he added. "When you're tired in the fourth quarter, though, you sometimes tend to fall back into bad habits."

Rowan Silva scored eight-and-a-half minutes off a pass from Justin Bruhm in to give the hosts a 1-0 lead after one quarter. Ethan Dwyer tied it for Hamilton-Wenham early in the second and teammate Zach Walles, on a nice feed from Lucas Hunt behind the net, connected 42 seconds later to give the Generals their first (and only) lead.

But Bruhm responded off the very next faceoff to tie things up, and Ziggy McCormick found Silva a minute-and-a-half later to give the Tigers a lead (3-2) they'd never relinquish.

Orroth was spectacular in the third quarter, stopping all seven shots that came his way as the Generals applied their best offensive pressure of the contest. Bruhm's second goal, a man up tally off an assist from Jack Gillis, doubled his team's lead (4-2) heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

Hunt converted an Andrew Winch pass with 3:35 to go for the Generals, but Ipswich essentially ran out the clock from there.

Peter Gourdeau and Chris Domoracki were defensive standouts for Hamilton-Wenham, while captain Colby Guyer had a solid game up front trying to work himself free for looks at the Tigers' net. Jack Steward and Jack Wieman were also effective in trying to slow down Donovan in the faceoff circle.

The Tigers now turn its attention to Triton, which dealt them a 14-9 setback on June 10.

"They're another big challenge," admitted Foster. "They've got No. 5 (James Tatro) and No. 3 (Jared Leonard) offensively. We'll want to control the ball like we did today and maybe try to slow it down. It'll be interesting to see what happens."