After an almost two-week break since their season openers, the Cheverus and South Portland boys’ lacrosse teams returned to action Wednesday.
They were greeted with rain from start to finish at Boulos Stadium.
In the spirit of the weather, Aidan Schifano poured in six of his seven goals in the first half for South Portland, which led 11-4 after two quarters. But the Stags gave South Portland a scare, closing to within two goals before falling 14-12.
Max Coffin of Cheverus goes on the attack as Ryan Loring of South Portland tries to slow him down. Coffin paced the Stags with six goals, but Cheverus couldn’t overcome an 11-4 halftime deficit.
“Letting them get back into the game was a little disappointing – hats off to Cheverus,” South Portland Coach Tom Fiorini said. “They didn’t give up.”
Max Coffin finished with six goals for Cheverus (0-2), including all four of the Stags’ first-half goals. Michael Hatch added three goals, while Marco Giancotti, Colby Anton and Chris St. John contributed a goal apiece.
For South Portland (2-0), Cooper Mehlhorn and Jack Tierney each had a pair of goals, and Charlie Cronin, David Fiorini and Bram Backman scored once.
South Portland’s David Fiorini is defended by Noah Thomas of Cheverus during a boys’ lacrosse game Wednesday in Portland. South Portland won, 14-12.
“Overall, we didn’t play well in the first three quarters,” Cheverus Coach Dan Soule said. “We knew it was going to be an uphill battle to fight, but we said at halftime, ‘Take it one goal at a time.'”
Cheverus created some dangerous scoring chances after halftime, but South Portland goalie Quinn Watson came up big in the third quarter, making five of his 10 saves to hold the Stags to just two goals, while South Portland scored once to maintain a 12-6 advantage.
“Our (defense) played well and our goalie played phenomenally,” Schifano said. “He made some key plays and got the ball to the attack.”
Mehlhorn opened the final quarter with a goal for South Portland before Hatch kicked off the Stags’ comeback bid about a minute later. Hatch then assisted on a Coffin goal with 5:02 left before feeding Giancotti, who was cutting up the middle of the field. Giancotti’s goal made it 13-9 with 3:18 left.
Coffin connected again with 2:42 remaining before Schifano scored a timely goal for South Portland with 1:48 left.
The Stags weren’t done, with Hatch and Anton scoring before Cronin picked up a groundball that proved crucial in helping South Portland run out the clock.
Chris St. John of Cheverus drives with the ball as Ryan Loring of South Portland tries to slow him down.
“It was just too little, too late,” Soule said. “We just need to play four quarters and play a lot grittier.”
As for the rain and the long break in between games, both coaches said it had no effect on the outcome.
“The kids were excited to come out and play,” Tom Fiorini said. “The rain affects both teams, but they (Cheverus) were doing fine, so we should have been doing fine, too. Cheverus played a great second half, and we didn’t.”
Cheverus plays next at York on Friday, and South Portland will host reigning Class A state champion Brunswick (3-0) on Saturday.
Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or:
tvortherms@pressherald.com
Twitter: TaylorVortherms
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