Sophomore face-off man and midfielder Brendan Wang (12) defends against Ashland's Nick Fish (22). Photo by Max McGreal.
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
Coming off a 12-7 defeat to rival Holliston on May 13, the Westwood High School boys varsity lacrosse team traveled to Ashland on Monday night looking to get back on track.
Behind a pair of four-goal performances by senior attack-man Griffin Hunter and junior attack-man Teddy Woodworth, the Wolverines fought their way to a tough 15-14 victory in an extremely physical affair. Senior midfielder Connor Danieli also chipped in three goals and an assist, and sophomore LSM Donald Vanerin scored two goals in the winning effort.
Monday's win did not come easily for the Wolverines (3-2), who found themselves down 5-1 early and then 10-6 at halftime. Westwood opened up the second half with a 6-1 run, with three goals coming from Woodworth, one from Vanerin and two from Hunter. The run gave Westwood their first lead of the game. With Westwood leading 12-10, Ashland senior captain Nick Fish fired home a goal on the man-up to cut Westwood's lead to 12-11 at the end of three quarters.
A goal off the opening face-off of the third quarter by Vanerin allowed Westwood to stretch the lead to a pair at 13-11. Westwood's fourth quarter lead grew to as many as three at 14-11 before the Clockers cut the deficit to 14-13. A rip by Hunter on the man-up with under five minutes to play pushed the lead back to 15-13. A goal by Fish with 1:58 remaining cut the deficit to 15-14 for Ashland. After Ashland won the ensuing face-off, a big caused turnover by junior close D Thomas DeMaio gave possession back to the Wolverines. Westwood was able to chew out the final minute and change of clock and prevail by the 15-14 final.
Westwood will enjoy the remainder of the week off before returning to action against Medway on May 24.
For funny and incisive sports analysis as well as video highlights of games, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter and Instagram handles @flano0.
