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LAWRENCE – Any observers from Lynn English who were on hand Tuesday night scouting its quarterfinal opponent left knowing the top-seeded Bulldogs will be facing a team more dangerous than they probably anticipated.

Isabel Putnam made 22 saves and Claudia Crowe amd Rebecca Marchand both scored goals but Methuen couldn't pull off the upset, falling to Lexington 3-2 in the Division 1 North first round.

METHUEN - As the wind intensified in the second half, making an already bitter and miserably cold Friday night even worse, Saul Cespedes was just heating up.

"I was warming up! Oh yeah, man I was loving it," said the Methuen senior. "I felt warm the entire time."

The Andover boys faced an uphill battle in its Division 1 North semi-final matchup against top-seeded Lexington. Andrew Imrie won first singles 6-3, 6-2, but that was all the Warriors would get. The Minutemen only have one loss on the season heading into the championship game.  

NORTH ANDOVER — With just one line, a fan in the Central Catholic student section put into words what everyone at the ball-park was thinking, "Don't worry, he's got this."

The line was directed at Central's center fielder Johandy Gonzalez as he tracked down a deep fly ball in the top of the sixth, but it might as well have been said about the Raiders starting pitcher and recently crowned MVC Player of the Year Mike Mercuri.

LEXINGTON — Andover scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to cut its deficit to just one touchdown, but that was as close as the Golden Warriors could get, falling to Lexington 47-39 Saturday afternoon.

LEXINGTON — Unlike a company of 18th-century armed Englishmen, the Methuen Rangers yesterday came to this town, conquered and left feeling better about themselves than they had in quite some time.

Snapping a four-game losing streak that had spoiled a once-promising season, the Rangers rode a dominant defense to a 26-14 victory over the host Minutemen.

"We needed a win bad," said linebacker John Maginnis, who recorded a safety, recovered a fumble and posted two of Methuen's three sacks. "We started off 4-0 which was a huge start for us, and then all of a sudden we lost four straight. We were in a slump. The team was down. Kids were starting to leave practice, quitting and stuff."

A big-play passing attack produced all the touchdowns, including a pair that soared 54 yards or more. The Methuen offense used only six plays to find the end zone on those three possessions combined. In fact, the only sustained drive the Rangers produced went 80 yards on nine plays and resulted in a 26-yard Austin George-Williams field goal.

But that was more than a stifling defense needed as the Rangers held Lexington without a first down until 3:09 left in the third. The Minutemen used an interception to get their first touchdown after a 5-yard possession earlier in the period.

"It means on defense, we came out and get stops," Maginnis said. "We get possessions for the offense. If the defense gets turnovers, it means we're in good shape."

In addition to Maginnis’, the Rangers got fumble recoveries by Evan Lacroix, Kenny Sullivan and Willy Weinhold, who had all three touchdowns on receptions of 59, 26 and 54 yards from George-Williams. When it was over, Lexington compiled only 58 yards of total offense, including a measly 8 yards on 17 rushing attempts.

"We needed a game like this," Ryan said. "We certainly did. I thought our game plan was solid. The assistant coaches did a great job putting that together, and we executed it perfectly. The defensive ends Evan Lacroix and Willy Weinhold won the game for us because they did exactly what they were told to do by the assistant coaches.

Methuen also had trouble running the ball, putting up only 31 yards on 35 carries, but fortunately a ground game wasn't required yesterday.

"It felt like we ran the ball better than that to be honest with you," Ryan said. "I guess statistics don't lie. But we ran it enough to keep (Lexington) honest. Certainly we threw it enough to move the ball and do what we had to do. But obviously our defense was the story of the day."

Andover boys tennis reached the Division 1 North semifinals for the second straight year but the Warriors fell to top seed Lexington, 5-0. 

Coach Mike Wartman said, "They were long points and long games. I was proud of how we played. We played them tougher than earlier in year. They can hold their heads high."