SCITUATE — It might be a brand new era for Scituate’s boys lacrosse team in the Div. 3 world.
However, under the system Mark Puzzangara has built over the past 15 seasons or so, the Sailors have forever remained consistent in their approach to winning. They continued their tradition running on Wednesday.
Junior stars Owen Hofford (five goals, assist) and Willy Robinson (four goals, two assists) sparked things offensively, as second-ranked Scituate erupted for a 20-6 victory over a Patriot League rival in No. 15 Hanover.
“It was a tough start to the season, coming in injured,” Robinson said. “Very lucky that it was not as bad as we thought, and that I was able to play through it. But the team around me has really shown up. I mean, I get shut off to start , and Charlie Hartwell comes out fast, scoring goals. We have our one, two, three guys. Owen Hofford is putting up numbers. So, I get shut off, but we have other guys. Back it up.”
The game was an encapsulation of Scituate’s spring, where the Sailors (17-5) started off quietly before finding a groove. The group had been dealing with numerous injuries. The junior captain himself was battling a labrum problem, but grinded through things. In a similar respect, Hanover (6-13) looked to take the star out of his game to start. Enter Hartwell netted a hat trick in the waning minutes of the opening frame to provide the Sailors a shocking 6-0 lead through one stanza.
Then, in a second quarter featuring little defense to note, Scituate out-scored its Patriot League rival 8-3. By that point, the Sailors were in complete control with a 14-3 edge. Despite a relentless pursuit, Robinson was able to complete a net a few goals himself through the first two periods of play.
“Very happy,” said Puzzangara. “What I love the most about it is that Robinson is getting shut off, as he probably should. But the fact that we’re finding other guys to contribute with a lot of goals, and that we’re still finding ways to get Willy the ball? Usually when we do, something good happens.”
While Hanover was able to slow down the tempo in the second half, it was too late at that point for the Hawks to stage a miraculous rally. Robinson added two more goals in the third, then Hofford sniped the cage with 27 seconds left in the quarter to give Scituate a 20-5 advantage.
Hartwell added four goals and one assist in the win for the Sailors.
Senior captain Thomas Cronan had a pair of goals to pace Hanover.
Scituate will now advance to the Elite 8, where the Sailors will meet a tough squad in No. 7 Nashoba. Through two postseason games, Scituate has outscored its opposition at a ridiculous 45-10 clip.
“I try to go into things with as much confidence as possible,” Hofford said. “But I’m always a little nervous before games. I think we’ve played (Hanover) twice. We know what they’re going to do, what they’re capable of. We just game planned against that very well, and we were able to perform how we wanted to.”