U-32 boys earn 10-7 win
Toolbox
By James Biggam Times Argus Staff - Published: April 25, 2007
EAST MONTPELIER — When Harwood scored three unanswered goals Tuesday, U-32 boys lacrosse coach Lee Morse called a timeout and then dropped to the ground to hammer out 35 pushups.
The lesson quickly became clear as Morse's arms began trembling and he refused to give up.
After that, his players responded by fighting back for a 10-7 victory.
"I just went ahead and started doing pushups," Morse said. "It was an opportunity to be silent, and sometimes in coaching, saying less is more. And by going down and doing pushups — and doing as many as I possibly could in the time that we had — these guys could see that I was going to give it everything I had. And that, in a sense, is trying to get this team to lead itself. Because ultimately, if I do a good job as the sea-son progresses, I'm less involved. I don't want to be running all the Xs and Os. Eventually, I want this team to become a smart lacrosse team and say, 'We know what we need to do.'"
Seven different Raiders found the back of the net Tuesday, following up Monday's victory over St. Johnsbury where six U-32 players scored.
"Guys are willing to go to the goal, but they're also willing to pass or make the assist," Morse said. Chris Wong paced U-32 with three goals, including a half-field shot that tied the score at 4 with two seconds left in the first half.
"When time's running out, there's no reason why you don't take the shot — no matter how far out," Morse said. "And that made it 4-4. You go into halftime with the score 4-4 and it's totally different than if the score's 4-3 and you're down one looking up."
Chris Shapiro finished with two goals for the Raiders, while Jeremy Peyton, Tucker LaClair, Will Curchin, Mike Moran and Todd Murphy all scored one goal apiece. Leading the way for Harwood were Kenny Bouneuf (three goals), Nick Sisler (two goals), Luke Sisler (one goal) and Travis Hannon (one goal).
"This was our second day being on the field and we don't have a lot of numbers this year," Harwood coach Chris Carter said. "We've only got two lines of midfield, so it's pretty much ironman lacrosse with no subs."
The Highlander coach added that his squad has developed a competitive rivalry with U-32 during recent years.
"They're two very evenly matched teams and I definitely always look forward to our U-32 series," he said. "It seems to be a bunch of blue-collar kids who get out there and grind it out. They play with heart and they give it their all every time they're out there."
Harwood goalie Jake Grout finished with nine saves in the loss and U-32 goalie Gordon Matheson stopped 15 shots. Matheson was not afraid to come out of the cage throughout Tuesday's game, and at times he cradled the ball past midfield to spark his team's transition.
"Gordon had 15 saves (Monday) and 15 today," Morse said. "Clearly, he's the backbone of our defense, but he's also almost like another assistant coach out there — he understands what the defense is trying to accomplish. He's not only good at stopping the ball, but multiple times he's the guy who clears the ball, which is just as important."
U-32 improves to 2-0 and will travel to play Burlington on Thursday.
Harwood falls to 0-1.
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