By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Staff
Last week, Westwood High boys’ lacrosse team tuned up for the Chowder Cup with a 13-5 win over the Holliston Panthers.
Westwood (6-1) crushed Holliston (5-2), 19-3, last season. This time around, the Panthers put up a much better fight, before the Wolverines were able to pull away in the second half
The Wolverines started out strong with a quick goal by junior attacker Will Stueler from just over 10 yards out within the first minute of the game. Soon after, Captain Liam Williams followed it up with a second point for Westwood. Seb O’Brien ran in close to the net for a pass from fellow sophomore Will Dempsey, but the play did not result in a goal.
The Panthers scored their first goal with a low, hard shot from about 14 yards out. Putting pressure on the Holliston goalie, Stueler managed to get a stick on the ball and it ended up in front of junior Greg Walsh, who scooped it up and passed it back up to Stueler. Stueler launched an overhand shot at the Holliston net in a one-on-one with the goalie, but the ball went just high.
Junior midfielder Will Sesselman earned Westwood their third goal after running by the Panthers’ defense. Holliston responded soon after during a hectic play in the Wolverines’ end and followed it up with another from 13 yards to tie the game at 3–3.
Walsh had a good shot from ten yards but Holliston saved it. Stueler tipped another pass from the Holliston goalie and Sesselman grabbed it, advancing up the field. He shot overhand from 20 yards, hoping to beat the Panthers’ goalie back to the net, but the goalie managed to make a high save.
Walsh had a great run and Sesselman had a good shot, but the Wolverines’ next goal was by Williams, who ran from behind the net and scored with a behind the back shot with ten seconds remaining in the first quarter, and Walsh made a steal just before it ended.
Now up 4–3 to begin the second quarter, Captain Sam Cochran came from behind the Holliston net and turned to take a shot, which was blocked. In Westwood’s end, goalie and captain Jaden Pollack saved two bounce shots not far apart before sophomore defender JD Moerschel blocked a third Holliston shot.
Stueler got himself down in the Holliston end for a pass and then sent the ball to Seb O’Brien, whose shot was saved by the Panthers’ goalie. Halfway through the quarter, junior midfielder CJ Hancock stole the ball from a Panther, leading to the Wolverines’ fifth goal. Williams had drawn the defense one way and passed it to Sesselman, who ran to the middle to make the shot. Walsh ran in for a shot a few minutes later but it was saved.
As the quarter was coming to the end, Greg Walsh got his goal after Williams sent a long pass to him. Walsh caught the ball and ran to the net, faking a shot on the near side before continuing across and scoring on the far side with an overhand shot at 13.3 seconds left in the half.
The Wolverines entered the third quarter up 6–3 and Pollack tipped a shot over the net not long in. Cochran passed the ball to Walsh high in the Holliston end, then the two ran by each other and faked switching it back to Cochran before both winding up, Cochran faking and Walsh passing the ball to Sesselman, whose shot was saved. Walsh also took a shot on the next play but was unsuccessful. Stueler sent the ball to Williams, who was running up the middle of the field for a high shot that ended up being saved.
With a little over seven minutes left in the third quarter, a Panther made a pass from behind the Westwood net to a teammate who scored from the right side. The Wolverines quickly responded though, with Walsh firing off an overhand shot from 11 yards out, making the score 7–4.
Junior defender Ryan Owens tipped a Panthers’ pass and Walsh grabbed the loose ball and ran 59 yards, taking a low shot that nearly went in, barely saved by the Holliston goalie. Williams had a shot a few minutes later, but the Wolverines wouldn’t have to wait too long for their next goal. Sesselman flew in from the left wing for the Wolverines’ eighth goal with two and a half minutes left in the quarter. With only 15.3 seconds remaining, Cochran scored with an overhand shot from a little over ten yards out. Before time ran out in the quarter, Walsh sent a great pass to Hancock as they ran up the field, but the resulting shot was unsuccessful.
Only a little over a minute into the fourth quarter, Will Dempsey scored off of a pass from Cochran, but the goal was called back.
With just under five minutes left in the game, the Panthers scored to make it 9–5. Within the same minute, Pollack blocked a shot with his body before grabbing the rebound. With 3:11 left in the game, Cochran scored from 12 yards, and less than a minute later, Sesselman scored from a similar area.
In the defensive end, Walsh sprinted to the sideline to keep the ball inbounds, flinging it up the field to Cochran, leading to Westwood’s twelfth goal, put in by Williams with just under two minutes remaining in the game. A shot by Hancock hit the post, but the Wolverines recovered the ball and moments later, Stueler switched fields with a pass to Sesselman, who crossed the net and scored on a close up goal, bringing the score to 13–5 with 51.5 seconds left in the game.
Down two men due to penalties but up eight points, Westwood was in the defensive end when Ryan Owens knocked the ball out of the Panthers’ possession and prevented a shot. Captain Ryan Williams grabbed the ball and brought it out of the Wolverines’ end before the game concluded with a 13–5 win for Westwood.
The Wolverines’ schedule can be found online at: arbiterlive.com
