WESTBROOK – Fifth-seeded Marshwood got off to a great start and never looked back to roll to a 13-5 win against No. 4 Westbrook in a Class A West boys’ lacrosse tournament quarterfinal at Olmstead Field Tuesday afternoon.

The Hawks built a 12-1 lead during the first 26 minutes to advance into the regional semifinals for the third consecutive season.

Marshwood (8-5) will play top-seeded Scarborough (11-1) in the semis. Two weeks ago, the Red Storm, who had a first-round bye, cruised to a 12-5 win against the Hawks at South Berwick.

Westbrook and Marshwood belong to the SMAA. The two teams didn’t play each other during the regular season, but the Hawks had a little bit more playoff experience and that made it a difference Tuesday, especially at the outset.

“Just knowing the atmosphere of the playoffs, I really think it helped us out,” said Drew Hale, a sophomore middie who scored four goals and had three assists for the Hawks.

“We have a lot of freshmen, so we had a lot of pre-game jitters,” Westbrook Coach Josh Plowman said. “We have four seniors, two juniors and the rest are sophomores and freshmen, so we’re a young team.”

By the time the Blazes (7-6) finally settled, it was too late.

“This is a big game for us to step up to,” Plowman said. “I think we came out and gave it our all and did the best we could.”

The Hawks, meanwhile, got solid performances from senior midfielder Terence O’Brien and freshman goalie Erik Jennings.

O’Brien won 10 of the first 12 faceoffs to help keep Marshwood on the attack.

“Terence did a great job with the faceoffs today beating the other guys,” Hale said. “That’s a key part of the game. It’s how you get possession and score.”

Jennings made 11 saves and four of them came when the Hawks were a man down.

“Their goalie is huge,” Plowman said. “He’s a great athlete and a very good goalie. I know he plays year-round, and Marshwood is very lucky to have that kid.”

The Hawks held a 9-1 lead at the end of the first half.

Most of Marshwood’s goals came early in its possessions.

“We’re a team that attacks the cage quickly trying to catch the defense off guard,” Hale said. “We like to attack quickly and not pass the ball around like most teams do.”

The Blazes’ Sam Carroll opened the scoring six minutes into the game. Marshwood scored the next 12 goals during a span of nearly 29 minutes to put the game out of reach.

Matt Scremin, one of four seniors on the Marshwood roster, scored four goals and had an assist. Sam Woodman followed with two goals and two assists. Justin Hackney had a goal and an assist. Kyle Claus and Adam Driver each scored a goal, while O’Brien and Devon Gilbert each had an assist.

For Westbrook, Carroll had two goals and an assist. Nick Tremblay had two goals. Ben Grant scored a goal, while Alec Crimmin had an assist.

 

Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

 

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