This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/15/2017 12:00 AMIt’s been an up-and-down year for the North Branford boys’ lacrosse team, but with a 6-8 record and two games to go, the T-Birds still have a shot to reach the postseason. North Branford hosts Old Lyme at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 16 and then plays at Masuk at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday, May 18. Head Coach Dave Carpenter’s squad will qualify for the Class S State Tournament with one victory and is still in contention to make the Shoreline Conference Tournament.
The T-Birds lost three All-State players from its 2016 team that shocked the Shoreline. Those departures, coupled with players moving in and out of the lineup for various reasons, resulted in a slow start for North Branford this year.
“For a small team, it all takes a toll. We had seven starters from last year that graduated or left, so that’s a lot of roles that you need to fill. Defensively, we’ve had eight different kids start trying to find the right match of guys who will play well together,” said Coach Carpenter. “Injuries have plagued our team this year. We’ve had three significant injuries to big-time contributing players, and it’s taken a toll emotionally.”
North Branford took a 15-8 home loss to Morgan on May 8. Dillon Blake scored three goals, while fellow senior captain Brian McKee netted two. Senior captains Connor Odell and Nico Sommo added a goal apiece, as did freshman Peter Taylor. Noah Taylor and Xavier Cognata combined to make 17 saves in goal.
The Thunderbirds closed out the week by posting victories over Cromwell and Sheehan. On May 11, North Branford prevailed 16-4 at Cromwell. It was a great team effort as 13 of the T-Birds’ 16 goals were assisted. Odell led the charge with eight goals, while Sommo had two goals with seven assists. McKee scored four times and added two assists, plus Blake found the back of the net twice to go with two assists. Sommo was great on the draw by winning 72 percent of his face-off attempts for North Branford, which received 14 saves between Noah Taylor and Cognata.
On May 13, North Branford defeated Sheehan 11-9 at home. Odell scored five goals, McKee scored four, and Blake added two. Cognata made 12 saves to preserve the victory.
North Branford was 1-5 through its first six games, but things started to turn around once Sommo got back on the field. Since then, the Thunderbirds have won five of their last eight games.
“His first game back was against Cromwell, and I could tell the team had more confidence and more swagger. I hate to say one player makes a difference, but he did,” Carpenter said. “Having him on the field gave us a boost of confidence to play better. It definitely changed the attitude of the team.”
Carpenter feels that Sommo’s return simplified the game for a lot of the T-Birds. Knowing that attackers McKee, Blake, and Odell are the strength of his squad, Carpenter says that getting them the ball is a crucial component for his team to succeed.
“We are a very young team. At the youth level, your athletic ability will take you far, but our guys have learned if you can’t move the ball quickly to the guys that score, we’ll lose the ball. You don’t have to dodge through three people to score. Our attack is the strongest part of our team, and we need to get them the ball,” Carpenter said. “They all have 20-plus goals and score multiple times per game. I’m not asking our midfielders to score four goals per game, but if they can do their role and move the ball up to the attack, they’ve done their job.””