Strong Third Quarter Lifts Lenox in State Tourney
LENOX, Mass. – The Lenox boys lacrosse team scored six unanswered goals in the third quarter to take the lead and held off Auburn down the stretch to earn an 8-7 win in the preliminary round of the Division 3 State Tournament on Saturday.
Kitson Stover and Donny Bowler each had a hat trick.
Bowler scored three straight in the third quarter to give the Millionaires a 7-5 lead.
“We just weren’t happy with how we played in the first half,” Bowler said. “So we just woke up, decided we wanted to win. And we came out and did it.”
No. 31 Lenox (19-1) went into half-time trailing, 5-1, after the Rockets scored five straight goals to end the first half.
Lenox had trouble moving the ball through the midfield, repeatedly giving up possessions before it could get into its offense after Stover’s goal in the fifth minute of the game.
“I don’t know what was going on,” Lenox coach Brett Larmon said of the first half. “Not having Finn [Lenehan] on that midfield line is big. He’s a controller out there. We moved Donny down to attack against Pittsfield and it worked great. Today, we moved him up high.
“They responded. I can’t be prouder of the way these guys played in the second half. We spotted them four goals. And that’s a big school from the eastern part of the state, and we came out and took it to them. I think we shocked them in the second half.”
Lenox came out applying pressure to the visitors right away in the third quarter.
Stover rang a shot off the post just 20 seconds into the half.
Forty seconds later, Luke Gamberoni converted an assist from Jack Pignatelli to break Auburn’s 5-0 run and make it a 5-2 game.
Later in the 26th minute, Gamberoni set up Stover for a transition goal to cut the margin to two goals.
Ian Mack scored in the fourth minute of the third quarter, and then Auburn and keeper Nathan Gawronski were able to quiet things down for a few minutes before Bowler found the back of the net from the top of the box with 3:59 left in the quarter.
A minute and a half later, Bowler scored with an assist from Gamberoni to give Lenox a 6-5 lead. And with just 31 seconds left to play, the pair hooked up again, this time for a man-up goal that sent the Millionaires into the fourth with a 7-5 advantage.
Stover opened the fourth quarter with a goal assisted by Shaler Larmon to give the Millionaires an 8-5 lead.
But Auburn got the bulk of the chances from there on out.
Landon Connor (three goals) converted one of those opportunities, scoring in transition to give his team its first goal since the second quarter with 5:06 left on the clock. A minute later, Sullivan O’Brien scored in transition to get the Rockets within one with 4:40 left to play.
With 2:29 on the clock, Lenox’s Jeffrey Larmon (10 saves) stoned an Auburn attacker in transition. Moments later, Lenox defenseman Brodie McNair denied another Rocket on a fast break.
“Jeffrey played great,” Brett Larmon said. “He had some amazing saves. “Our defense picked it up – eating shots. Long poles played good, defense played good, just an all-around great team win for us.”
Lenox caught a break when Auburn took a couple of late penalties that allowed Lenox to finish the game on the man up. The Rockets did steal a couple of possessions in the closing minutes, even with the man down, but each time, Lenox’s defense was equal to the task.
“What a great win for our program,” Larmon said. “It shows, after two years, that we’re a legit lacrosse team. We’re showing people we’re not just a flash in the pan. We’ve got some good players here, and we’re really going strong.
“Like I said, I couldn’t be more proud of these kids.”
Lenox advances to the tournament’s Round of 32 against No. 2 Pentucket Regional (16-2) in a game to be played on Monday in West Newbury.