BATH

When the St. Dominic’s Academy boys lacrosse team visited McMann Field to take on Morse nearly one month ago, the Saints took advantage of a three-minute Shipbuilders stick infraction to erase a four-goal deficit before coming away with an 8-7 overtime win.

The loss sent Morse into a tailspin, with four losses in five games, dropping the Shipbuilders to the No. 8 seed in Eastern B and into the state’s only preliminary lacrosse contest.

As fate had it, it was St. Dom’s, the No. 9 seed, that was the opponent on Monday, and Morse refused to allow history to repeat itself.

Leading 10-6 heading to the fourth quarter, goaltender Ryan Muncey made four of his 11 saves, and his teammates took advantage of the penalty-riddled Saints en route to a 13-6 victory.

Morse (7-6) will travel to Kents Hill on Wednesday for a contest against top-seeded Maranacook/Winthrop (10-2), while St. Dom’s finished its season 5-8.

Penalties were the defining problem for the Saints, who were whistled for 17 infractions, with Morse scoring six man-up goals, including two in the fourth quarter to put St. Dom’s away.

“Man-up we haven’t done very well this season, but today we took advantage of some,” said Morse coach Jay Paulus, who saw the game become chippy in the second half. “We have always had a rivalry with them.”

“We couldn’t put it together and it started running away from us fast,” said Saints second-year coach Jamie King. “Every time we’d get one, they’d come right back and get one then we would take a penalty. The youngness of the team, inexperience of playing, was tough.”

Morse darted out to a 2-0 lead on a goal each by Perry Chase and Jake Reno. St. Dom’s answered with Ridge Servidio’s first goal with 2:47 left in the first quarter, but Kevin Feeney scored a pair for the Shipbuilders off Chase setups one minute apart for a 4-1 lead after a quarter for the hosts.

Servidio converted a pass from Austin Roy just 15 seconds into the second frame, but three consecutive man-up goals by Morse made for a 7- 2 contest with 6:29 remaining until halftime. Alec Beveridge scored a goal, while Chase put two behind Saints goaltender Alex Michaud.

Beveridge answered an Adam Vining goal for an 8-3 Shipbuilders lead, but St. Dom’s gained some momentum prior to halftime when Roy scored two goals 10 seconds apart while his team enjoyed a two-minute unreleasable man advantage to get the Saints to 8-5 at the break.

“We felt like we were moving in the right direction,” said King.

Morse reestablished its pressure offense as Beveridge and Chase each scored for a 10-5 Shipbuilders advantage. Matt Chasse, who had a threepoint game, found the back of the cage for the Saints. The fourth quarter began with Morse holding a familiar four-goal lead.

Both goaltenders kept the score at 10-6 with four saves apiece. Michaud had 19 saves, many while sprawling from post to post.

Frustration set in for the visitors as the Saints were whistled for five fourth-quarter infractions, with Morse getting a goal each from Beveridge, Feeney and Chase to complete the 13-6 win.

“Early in the season when we played lower-level teams, we would fall down to their level,” said Chase, who had five goals and four assists. “Today we didn’t do that. Today, the man-up goals were big on both sides.”

“Beveridge has been getting pinched pretty hard, so we had Feeney and Chase work together,” said Paulus, who feels his team has some work to do before facing the Hawks on Wednesday. “We have to give Maranacook some new looks. We wanted to play Maranacook, which was our goal, and we get another chance at them. We will have to play like today, only better. We can’t have unforced turnovers right out of the gate.”

King sees his lacrosse program on the rise.

“They gave it their all, and we were happy that we made playoffs,” said King. “We lose seven seniors and have nine freshmen coming in that we know of for next season, so the future is bright.”

Roy had two goals and an assist for St. Dom’s, while Michaud had a team-high four ground balls.

For Morse, Beveridge picked up four goals, one assist and five ground balls, while Feeney added three goals. James Laser led his team defensively with six ground balls and two key interceptions, with Declan Hall adding three ground balls and three shots on goal.

No. 8 Morse 13,
No. 9 St. Dom’s 6

Eastern B Preliminary
At McMann Field in Bath
St.Dom’s—1410— 6
Morse— 4423—13
Goals — (SD) Ridge Servidio 2, Adam Vining,
Austin Roy 2, Matt Chasse; (Mo) Perry Chase 5,
Jake Reno, Kevin Feeney 3, Alec Beveridge 4.
Assists — (SD) Matt Chasse 2, Austin Roy; (Mo)
Perry Chase 4, Myles Day, Wes McKenna, Alec
Beveridge, Ethan Brown.
Shots — Morse 56, St. Dom’s 28.
Saves — (SD) Alex Michaud 19; (Mo) Ryan
Muncey 11.
Face-offs — Morse 13, St. Dom’s 10.
Records — Morse 7-6, St. Dom’s 5-8.
Up next for the Shipbuilders — Against No. 1
Maranacook/Winthrop at Kents Hill on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Eastern B quarterfinal.