Morgan Boys’ Lacrosse Loses Battle for Shoreline Supremacy
Morgan boys’ lacrosse set a goal to go undefeated in the Shoreline Conference and take home the league’s first tournament championship this season. The Huskies approached those goals with valor, but also faced some stiff competition from Old Lyme in the tourney final. Morgan and the Wildcats played a back-and-forth contest that was filled with ties and lead changes, but ultimately, the Huskies took a 17-14 defeat at Connecticut College in New London on May 28.
“Offensively, we had some guys really step up. We did pretty well on face-offs for the most part, We were able to answer most of their goals. But at the end of the day, we weren’t able to build off of our momentum,” said Huskies’ Head Coach Andrew Wrynn. “It was a lot of shifting momentum and we really couldn’t have our leads stick and that’s what happens sometimes.”
Morgan (11-7) jumped out to a lead with two-straight goals from junior Anthony Choronzy three minutes into the first quarter. After Old Lyme (15-3) answered with consecutive scores, Huskies’ senior captain Joe Lee helped regain the advantage at 3-2 with a netter of his own. Old Lyme then posted three scores in a row to close the first quarter up 5-3.
Great defensive play by the Huskies froze the Wildcats’ offense and kept them off the scoreboard in the second quarter. Lee and Morgan senior captain Chris Waterbury each tallied goals to tie the contest at 5-all at halftime.
A battle of lead changes ensued in the second half. Old Lyme broke the tie with two scores for a 7-5 advantage, although Morgan answered with goals by Waterbury, junior Mateo Zumpano, and Waterbury’s third for a 8-7 lead with 4:30 left in the third. Morgan’s lead lasted just 45 seconds as the Wildcats struck a tying goal at 3:48 and the lead score at 3:13 to take the upperhand at 9-8. However, Zumpano gave the Huskies new life with a goal just nine seconds before the end of the quarter for a 9-all game.
Unfortunately, the final frame saw lapses in Morgan’s defense as the Huskies left some opponents open near the goal crease, setting up 1-on-1 situations for senior keeper Connor Moran. That led to three scores in just under four minutes and the Huskies trailed 12-9.
Waterbury answered by scoring with around eight minutes left and then junior defenseman John Lee took the ball across the field while dodging opponents and stick checks to score and give the momentum back to the Huskies, who were now down 12-11 with 7:28 to play. After Old Lyme tallied another score, Waterbury struck in his fifth and Joe Lee completed a hat trick to tie the game at 13 with 4:30 remaining.
Old Lyme responded quickly with two goals in a minute and added a third on a man-up situation to lead 16-13. Waterbury scored the Huskies’ last goal and earned a double hat trick when the senior buried his sixth with 1:18 to go. After a false start by Morgan on the face-off, the Wildcats held possession and sealed the victory with their 17th goal with 31 seconds left.
“It’s little things we got to work on—fundamental stuff as far as covering guys by the crease. But we’re resilient and we’ll get back to work,” said Wrynn. “These guys are tough and we’re going to get ready for states.”
Morgan’s only two conference losses this season have come against Old Lyme. The Huskies will look to bounce back as the No. 11 seed traveling to play at No. 6 East Catholic in the Class S State Tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3.
Morgan had reached the Shoreline tourney title game by knocking out Valley Regional 22-13 in the semis. For the two tournament contests, Waterbury led the Huskies with 14 goals. The attackman recently learned that he earned First Team All-Shoreline honors, as did midfielder Joe Lee and defender John Lee. Senior defender Nate Blanusa was Second Team All-Shoreline and attackman Mateo Zumpano also played his way to that accolade.