Friday’s boys’ lacrosse roundup: BC High advances, setting up possible St. John’s Prep rematch

When Andover’s defense buckled down, it took pinpoint passing to get BC High scoring opportunities.

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With 10 seconds left in the third quarter, senior Enzo Serio connected with classmate Murphy Belvin in front of the net to take a 7-6 lead. With 4 minutes, 56 seconds left in the game, junior Tommy Ryan zipped a pass right into Belvin’s mesh for a point-blank tally, and that insurance was needed in an 8-7 quarterfinal victory for the visiting No. 6 Eagles (16-5) over No. 3 Andover (11-6) at Lovely Field.

“Everyone kept telling me they were going to fall,” said Belvin, who was making his return from a hamstring injury. “Eventually, they did. I just kept shooting. My guys had me.”

The Golden Warriors launched two goals in the first 17 seconds, but just over a minute into the game, sophomore Nathan Rogers responded. He added another early in the second quarter. Senior Charlie Clair netted a pair, and junior Cal LaPointe secured the clinching ground ball and passed it ahead.

“Our defense has been tested all year,” LaPointe said. “We’ve gone through a tough schedule. We were ready for this moment. We have all of each other’s backs. We’re a team, and that’s what we do.”

The squad from Dorchester won its first matchup against Andover, 9-7, but coach Marcus Craigwell said the Warriors have improved at faceoffs since then. He said the team had to “let the game come to us,” and by the half, it was tied at 5.

Next matchup will either be No. 7 Winchester or No. 2 St. John’s Prep. The Prep has won its playoff matchup vs. BC High each of the past five years, four of them in the D1 final. After splitting in the regular season, BC High welcomes a possible third battle of the Eagles.

“We have to realize the pressure’s not on us. It’s on them,” Craigwell said. “If we could just play our game . . . I have faith in the guys that I have to chip away and come on top of that game.

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“It’s going to take four quarters. It’s going to take fundamental lacrosse. It’s going to take a lot of grit to beat them.”

Division 2 State

Mansfield 8, Duxbury 6 — Cam Goff made seven saves, including a clutch stop in the final minute to deny a potential tying goal from the fifth-seeded Dragons (14-7), allowing the fourth-seeded Hornets (21-1) to advance to the semifinals.

Cole Hogencamp and Thomas Donovan posted two goals and one assist apiece, Nico Smith tallied twice and went 6-for-7 at the faceoff-X, and Andrew DeGirolamo added a goal and an assist.

Mansfield led, 4-2, at the half, but junior attack Andrew Wiemeyer scored twice during a 3-0 run by Duxbury to take a 5-4 lead in the third. Mansfield’s defense killed off multiple penalties down the stretch and forced five turnovers on the night.

Division 4 State

Cohasset 19, Bourne/Mashpee 6 — Seniors Gus Greene (five goals, five assists), Tim Donovan (four goals, two assists), Max Monahan (four goals, assist), and Taighe Dwyer (two goals, one assist) led the charge, with Donovan topping 200 career points, as the top-seeded Skippers (16-5) punched their ticket to the semifinals.

Ipswich 14, Winthrop 8 — Senior captain Finn Wright fired in six goals and the fourth-seeded Tigers (14-4) used a 7-1 run in the second quarter to take control of a quarterfinals matchup against the fifth-seeded Vikings (17-4), advancing to face top-seeded Cohasset (16-5) in the semifinals Monday at Scituate High (time TBA).

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