HYANNIS – Spelling the difference may just be a phrase we hear quite often this lacrosse season in reference to Alec Henderson.
For the second straight game, the Sandwich High junior attacker put up a five-goal game to pace the Blue Knights to their second straight victory in a 9-8 nailbiter against Barnstable High yesterday afternoon.
Sandwich High’s Brian Wahle wheels and deals as Barnstable’s Josh Bestford tries to keep him from scoring position in yesterday’s 9-8 win for the Blue Knights in Hyannis.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
Still surrounded by heaping mounds of icy snow, a bitterly raw W. Leo Shields Memorial Field saw its Red Raiders tie the visiting Blue Knights three times at 2-2 in the first quarter, 4-4 in the second quarter and 6-6 in the third quarter but the hosts could not prevail and never enjoyed a lead.
The season-opening loss for the Red Raiders was its first opening defeat since 2012.
Henderson quickly got the Blue Knights on the scoreboard at 9:47 of the first quarter and Zach Gorrasi made it 2-0, Sandwich, just three minutes later. Barnstable’s Reece Hoppensteadt made it 2-1 at 5:35 with the first of his two goals on the day and fellow junior Brener DeSouza got the first of his two goals on the day to tie it with just 28.4 seconds left in the quarter.
Not to be outshined, Henderson gave the Blue Knights the lead with just 12.1 seconds left in the first frame.
Henderson added to that lead by making it 4-2 with his third goal of the day at the 7:53 mark of the second quarter, but Barnstable kept chipping away.
“I really liked the aggressiveness we showed today but it was a little bit sloppy out there,” Barnstable High sixth-year head coach Chris Whidden said. “We lacked discipline when we needed it and had a chance at the end. The chances were there.”
Barnstable sophomore attacker Jonathan Ramos made it a 4-3 game with his first of three goals on the day at the 6:29 mark of the second and senior midfielder Mike McDonough knotted things at 4-4 with his sole tally, but the Blue Knights simply would not relent.
Successive goals by the Blue Knights’ Jameson Buttafuoco and Henderson – his fourth – made it a quick 6-4 Sandwich lead.
Sandwich High’s Alec Henderson scored five goals for the second straight game to pace the Blue Knights to a 9-8 win over Barnstable in Hyannis yesterday afternoon.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports
With Barnstable assistant coach Kris Dumas shouting out the descending time clock “5… 4… 3… 2… 1,” Ramos timed his second goal perfectly and again made it a one-goal game with just 0:00.8 tenths of one second left on the scoreboard before the end of the second quarter. The score after two frames was Sandwich 6, Barnstable 5.
That momentum led to DeSouza’s second tally to make it 6-6 but that was as close as Barnstable would get through the remainder. Henderson netted his fifth and final score with 4:27 left in the third quarter – making it 7-6, Sandwich – and goals by Jordan Leary and Andrew Galanek would prove all the Blue Knights would need to seal the deal.
Barnstable had one final push as time began to run out in the fourth quarter when Hoppensteadt netted his second goal of the day with just 12.6 seconds left — making it 9-8 — but then the Red Raiders took an inopportune penalty immediately after that essentially precluded the Red Raiders from tying it up.
“It’s pretty difficult to do when you have one man in the penalty box,” Coach Whidden said.
In spite of the loss, Barnstable’s Nick Passalugo played a solid game in net while the Blue Knights’ Gavin Guarino was just a tad better for the win.
Barnstable is back on Wednesday at home against New Bedford at 4:00 pm and the Blue Knights return to DeConto Stadium in East Sandwich on Thursday at 4:30 against Nauset in their first Atlantic Coast League contest.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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