McCormack Breaks All-State Career Points Record on Senior Night

 

The Bombers were called for a cross checking penalty that put Greylock a man up, McCormack wasted no time as he faked a pass to his teammate and then fired a laser past the goal keeper to take sole possession of the state points record. McCormack passed previous record holder Max Quinzani of Duxbury High School, Quinzani went on to play college lacrosse at Duke University and later played professionally for the Philadelphia Wings and the Boston Cannons. McCormack is planning to attend and play lacrosse at Middlebury (V.T.) College next season, where he will play along side Quinzani's younger brother Wes who is a freshman on the Middlebury lacrosse team.

 

McCormack said he would probably wait until the end of the season to put into perspective being in the state record book, like a true competitor he was more focused on moving forward from a tough loss. "It's great to get the record but we are really looking to build as a team after this loss," he said. "It was pretty rough and we have a lot to work on."

 

"As talented as [Michael] is, he is really humble. Really unselfish. Absolutely a team first guy. A coach's dream," said Greylock coach Brandon Asplundh. "He makes my job so easy. He's always happy to let everyone else get the points but he just so happens to be one of the most talented players I have ever seen. So when the time is right, he gets points for us."

 

On a night where the visiting competition was fierce and goals were tough to come by, McCormack was there for his team when they needed him. He started off the game with his record setting goal to put Greylock ahead 1-0. Westfield then scored three straight and again it was McCormack with his second goal of a game this time with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. But the Mountie defense had their hands full as the Bombers were able to grab two quick goals in the last minute of the quarter to put the score at 5-2. 

 

Greylock opened the second quarter with a nice goal on the counter attack from senior Liam Chenail assisted by classmate Cole Hughes. Westfield would strike again a minute later to keep their lead at three but the Mounties came right back at them and who else would it be but McCormack, sinking his third goal of the day. 

 

From there things got rough for Greylock, the Bombers would go on to score six unanswered goals and went into halftime with a 12-4 lead. They would stay hot scoring three straight to start the second half, pushing their lead to 11. The Mounties would not lay down though and with seven and half minutes left in the third McCormack was there again scoring his fourth of the game this time assisted by sophomore Reilly Parker. Thirty seconds later Parker would net one of his own off a sweet pass from Chenail to put the score at 15-6.

 

Westfield was then called for an unnecessary roughness penalty which gave Greylock an advantage for two minutes. Unfortunately they were unable to capitalize as they just missed on two goals, one that slammed off the crossbar and the other skipped just outside the post. As time ran out in the third, freshman Sean McCormack netted the Mounties' seventh goal of the game with 51 seconds left in the quarter.

 

The Bombers would tack on three more goals before the game was over and Greylock was able to get two more for themselves. Hughes finished one off an assist from sophomore Patrick Storie and Parker would get his second goal of the game, unassisted.

 

"We knew that their offense was going to be really outstanding," said Coach Asplundh. "So if we keep giving them extra possessions like that, they are going to pull away and that is what happened tonight. We know now what we need to focus on going forward. Even though Westfield is in a division above us there are going to be teams like that that we are going to have to face going forward. It's a good wake up call. We know that we need to raise up our game going forward."

 

"They were a really great team. They really moved the ball great. This game shows that we have a lot of stuff to work on. Our defense. Sliding. Face offs," added McCormack. "It was really fun to play them. This helps a lot and shows us what are flaws are. It was great to play them and will probably help us a a lot."

 

The Mountie lacrosse team is a senior heavy team with 15 total seniors with seven of them being starters. "It's a huge class. It's a talented group. Again they make my job really easy," said Coach Asplundh. "They are great leaders. Always doing the right thing in the classroom and on the field. We are going to miss them."

 

"We didn't have a program when I first moved here and my dad started it up," said McCormack about the senior class. "I mean I've been playing with the same guys forever and it's been great. It's going to be tough to see everyone leave."