OAKLAND — Messalonskee broke open a close game by scoring six unanswered goals in the third quarter and beat Mt. Ararat 17-6 in an Eastern Class A boys lacrosse quarterfinal Tuesday.
No. 3 Messalonskee (13-1) advances to the semifinals and will face No. 2 Deering on Saturday in Portland. No. 6 Mt. Ararat ends the season at 6-7.
Nate DelGiudice had three goal and an assist during Messalonskee’s third-quarter outburst and finished with four goals and seven assists. A junior, DelGiudice now has 117 goals and 103 assists, and is the program’s leading scorer.
“To get the assist, you need people to finish,” DelGiudice said. “This was a playoff game and we came to play as a team. Everyone showed up to play.”
Messalonskee Coach Tom Sheridan was fearful that his Eagles would show up a little complacent after winning the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A title Saturday. Sheridan was nervous after a sloppy first half, even though the Eagles led, 10-5.
“We had a lead on Mt. Ararat in our regular-season game and they came back to make it a close game,” he said. “Our kids came out and played a great second half. We moved the ball well on attack and in the midfield, and our defense was outstanding.”
DelGiudice opened the scoring in the third quarter with back-to-back goals after maneuvering through the Mt. Ararat defense for close-range shots. Andrew Wilson had an assist on the first, and the second was a wrap-around effort on the left post that gave Messalonskee a 12-5 lead with 7 minutes, 31 seconds left in the third.
At 5:07, DelGiudice found Ryan Erskine alone in front of the goal for a 13-5 lead. A minute later, Cam Douglas whipped a sharp pass to Luke Vigue for a low shot into the left corner. Douglas and DelGiudice added goals before the end of the quarter and Messalonskee led 16-5.
GIRLS
MT. ARARAT 12, PORTLAND 9: Heather Bolduc and Haley Michaud each had four goals and two assists to lead the fourth-seeded Eagles (8-5) past the No. 5 Bulldogs (6-7) in an Eastern Class C quarterfinal at Topsham.
Callie Kirk added two goals for Mt. Ararat, and Hannah Hauser and Rowley Jones scored the other two. Sara Berry had three assists. Anna Bruning made 16 saves.
Drew Berry’s five goals led the Bulldogs. Catherine Flaherty scored twice, and Lizzie Landry and Raechel Allen had one each.
Mt. Ararat advances to a semifinal match at No. 1 Brunswick on Saturday.
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