RallyNorth.net

Mon, Jun 08, 2015 05:00 PM @ Pentucket

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Newburyport	4	5	3	4	0	16
Pentucket	1	5	5	5	1	17

Sachems sink Clippers

WEST NEWBURY — It was a win they will be talking about at Pentucket for a long, long time.

Facing down Cape Ann League rival Newburyport with a trip to the Division 3 North Finals on the line, the Pentucket boys lacrosse team rallied from an early deficit to beat the Clippers 17-16, with senior Ryan Beaton scoring the winner in overtime to cap off the dramatic victory.

The Sachems pulled out the win despite an epic performance from Newburyport senior Matt Kelleher, who scored 10 goals on the day, including the game-tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation to force sudden death overtime.

Pentucket (15-3) trailed for most of the game, falling behind 4-1 in the first quarter before slowly battling back to make it a one-goal game going into the fourth. The Sachems finally tied the game at 13-13 with about nine minutes to play thanks to a pair of goals from Connor Beaton, and then took the lead for the first time since the game's opening minutes shortly after thanks to a goal from Brendan Sullivan.

Newburyport (11-6) didn't go away quietly, however, as Kelleher put the team on his back and had an answer every time it looked like the Sachems would pull away. The two teams traded goals over the ensuing five minutes, until finally, while trailing 16-15 with under a minute to play, Newburyport gained possession and saw at least three shots ring off the post before Kelleher got free in front of the net and scored to send the game to overtime.

Needing possession for a chance to win the game, Pentucket's Jeff Porter came through and won the opening faceoff in overtime, allowing Sachems coach Dan Leary to call a timeout and plan the team's next move. But rather than draw up a series of plays, Leary had a simple message for his players.

"Our best thing has been that we have six guys who know how to play offense, so it's better for us to just let them play and not try to overcoach it," Leary said. "We had some set plays at the end of regulation and they didn't go our way, so in overtime we just tried to run our motion, tried to attack, move the ball and that's exactly what happened."

After three minutes of cycling the ball around the perimeter, the ball finally found its way into the stick of Ryan Beaton, who made a quick dodge, lunged forward and then put the ball in the net while falling down to spark a raucous celebration.

"I wasn't really thinking, I kind of just got the ball, saw an opening and took it," said a nearly speechless Beaton after the game. "[When I scored] my teammates basically surrounded me real quick, it was a really good feeling."

The game proved to be a worthy sequel of the two teams' previous meeting, when Pentucket edged out Newburyport 12-11 in a hard fought game on April 24.

With the win, Pentucket will now face another CAL rival in the Division 3 North Final, as top-seeded Ipswich defeated Lynnfield 9-8 in the other semifinal. That game will be played at Ipswich on Thursday at 5 p.m.