McDonough Leads Red Raider Laxmen Past Rival Clippers; St. John Paul II Edges Falmouth Academy Mariners

HYANNIS – It took Mike McDonough precisely 0:13 seconds to put the host Barnstable High boys’ lacrosse team on the scoreboard and by halftime it looked like it might be a rout over the visiting Falmouth Clippers.

But archrival Falmouth is never to be underestimated and after being down 8-1 at the intermission the visiting Clippers gave their hosts all they could handle Wednesday afternoon at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field.

Falmouth senior Arlin Moore tries to get past Barnstable’s Jack Pipatti in Wednesday’s 11-8 Red Raider victory.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports

Barnstable held on for an 11-8 victory, but not before Falmouth scored seven second half goals while holding the Red Raiders to just three scores over the game’s final 24 minutes.

McDonough and company came out of the starting gate hellbent on getting the quick, upperhand, and before the first quarter had come to a close, the Red Raiders had achieved just that with a 5-1 lead. The immediate outpouring caused the Clippers to call a quick time-out when the score had reached 3-0, but the Red Raiders were not fazed by the halt in momentum.

Three more unanswered goals by the Red & White in the second quarter had the Clippers going back to the drawing board once more at halftime, but this time the guests’ plan worked. Barnstable, ahead by only one goal with a 9-8 lead in the fourth quarter with 5:00 minutes left, hammered in a pair of much-needed goals to secure the 11-8 finale.

McDonough led Barnstable with a hat trick and an assist, while Falmouth junior Matt Katon matched that tally with three of his own.

Liam Shields, Brener DeSouza and Evan Mulone each scored two goals for the Red Raiders and Bo Delaney and Jack Pipatti each had one to round out the scoring for the hosts.

Senior Arlin Moore and sophomore Alex Manos each netted two goals for the Clippers and Andrew Franks had one to pace Falmouth.

Barnstable (6-8) next welcomes the Hingham Harbormen in another non-league contest on Saturday at 1:00 pm. Falmouth (3-8) heads to Dennis-Yarmouth Friday (May 8) at 4:00 pm.

St. John Paul II Edges Falmouth Academy, 7-5, in Hard-fought Lax Dust-up

Falmouth Academy goalie Sam Giancola – headed to play lacrosse at Bentley University next fall – made a remarkable 24 saves Wednesday afternoon but it was not enough as the St. John Paul II Lions took home the victory, 7-5, in a key Cape & Islands League match-up.

Nick Cassata led the Lions with three goals to pace the Blue & Gold, while Devon Harding, Gil Bach, Matt O’Connor and Cal Teceno each had one.

Owen Sullivan netted four goals for the Mariners and freshman Ben Sachoy had one.

St. John Paul II (8-4) heads down to North Eastham tomorrow for a 6:30 pm game against the Nauset Warriors. Falmouth Academy (2-2) welcomes Mashpee on Friday at 3:45 pm.

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm