LEXINGTON, Mass. - When the Hockomock League changed the rules this spring, so that lacrosse teams only had to play league opponents once, these were the types of games and the types of opponents that Franklin was hoping to add.
To continue to grow the program, the Panthers needed to prove that they can compete against the best. On Saturday afternoon, in the final of the Creators Crosse Tournament at Lincoln Park in Lexington, Franklin did just that by pushing a strong Billerica team to the brink before falling 10-9.
“They wanted this,” explained Franklin coach Lou Verrochi. “They wanted this type of schedule and they proved that they belonged up here with the best. We battled from two-goal deficits, three-goal deficits…With a few bounces either way we could have won.”
In fact, the Panthers battled back from a three-goal deficit in the first half and twice recovered from two goals down in the fourth quarter before an Indians goal with 1:03 remaining gave Billerica the lead for good.
The resiliency shown by Franklin began in the first quarter. Kyle Lundgren had tied it with the first of his three goals on the day but Billerica responded with three straight and was completely dominating possession. Franklin senior goalie D.J. Shea had already been forced into four saves and was keeping the Indians at bay.
Verrochi called timeout to settle his team down and it seemed to work. Lundgren, who also had two assists, picked out Kent for the first of the junior’s three goals and on the ensuing face-off senior LSM Mike Sullivan scooped up the ground ball and ran 40 yards to bury his shot and cut the lead to one. Less than 30 seconds later, Franklin was level as Kent let rip with a shot that found the corner with 45 second remaining in the first.
“When Kyle is on and Austin and Jack and the rest of those middies and attackmen, I think we’re pretty dangerous and we can run with anyone,” said Verrochi. “We proved that today.”
The Panthers took their only lead of the game with 6:27 left in the half. Jack Vail tried to spin through a pair of defenders and the ball popped loose only to bounce into the path of Ryan Spillane on the edge of the crease and the senior coolly finished to give the Panthers a 5-4 advantage.
It was a game of momentum swings and Franklin was controlling the majority of play, but with 4:06 left in the second a 1:00 locked in unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Sullivan would turn the tide. Billerica got one on the penalty and one just seconds after it ended and held a 6-5 lead at halftime.
Verrochi said, “It hurt us but I like the way that the kids responded -- battling back to protect one of their teammates. We stressed that when one of your teammates makes a mistake, we need to make sure we cover up for him.”
The Indians would score the lone goal of a fairly forgettable third quarter and the deficit was two heading to the fourth. The Panthers needed a spark and Verrochi tried to provide it with a fiery speech to his players about showing that they belong in the same company as the likes of perennial contenders like Billerica.
As with the first quarter timeout, the speech worked. The Panthers stormed out for the fourth and only 40 seconds in had cut the lead in half. Lundgren, who is playing at Babson College next year, received a great diagonal pass from Kent and took his time to make sure of the finish. Kent would then provide the goal that tied the game at 7-7 when he opened a little space for another rip to the corner.
The momentum of that goal lasted only eight seconds. Billerica won the face-off and Jeff Trainor, just like Sullivan in the first, scooped a ground ball and went straight through the middle of the defense to score. Billerica restored the two-goal lead on a quick transition, after the Panthers thought the player had stepped out of bounds, and it was 9-7 with just 6:06 left on the clock.
Once again, the Panthers were not finished. Kent had a shot well saved but the rebound popped up in the air and Lundgren was in the right place at the right time to snatch and score. A minute later, Lundgren managed to slip a pass to Vail as he was falling and the reigning HockomockSports.com Player of the Year made no mistake from close range to tie the game at 9-9 with 1:33 left.
“Lacrosse is a game of runs, you know, and we kept getting up and those guys kept fighting, scratching, clawing to come back and it was game all the way through to the end,” said Billerica coach Craig Flynn.
The Indians would win the face-off and thanks to some quick ball movement opened up the Franklin defense to give senior captain Danny Lynch space on the edge of the crease and he scored his third of the night.
“We had a miscommunication on that crease guy,” said Verrochi. “He shouldn’t have had a shorty on him, he should have had a pole, and that sort of hurt us. He didn’t realize it was his responsibility and when he did it was too late.”
The Panthers would win the face-off and had the ball with 57 seconds left but failed to get a shot on the cage. Time ran down and the Indians raced on to the field to celebrate, but Franklin walked off with no doubt that they belong on the same level as one of the top ranked teams in the state.
Franklin (8-1) will get back into Hockomock play on Wednesday with a trip to North Attleboro.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.