Millbrook vs. Hopkins
On a very cold New England Spring afternoon, the Millbrook Boys lacrosse team hosted the Hopkins School Hilltoppers in the Mustang’s season opener. It was a tale of two halves, but the end result was a victory for the home team. In the first half of play, the Millbrook offense took charge with several offensive players connecting for tallies. Mackey Haller 07’, Nick Weaver 07’, and Beau Parent 08’ worked well together on the first several goals to help the Mustangs build a 7-2 lead at the half. Will Benjamin 09’ did an excellent job in the first half handling most of the face offs against a very talented face off specialist for Hopkins. On defense, Senior Captain Ryan Fanning and company kept the Hilltoppers at bay while the offense possessed the ball for most of the first half.
In the second half, the Hopkins face off man found his stride and began to control the tempo of the game with excellent wing play by the Hilltoppers. Defensively, the Mustangs made some mental mistakes that gave the visitors more extra man opportunities and allowed them to find the back of the net for three goals. Lynn Harrington 08’ was brought in to help with the face off responsibilities and won an important face off to stop the momentum at the end of the third quarter after Millbrook’s five goal lead had disappeared. The Hilltoppers closed the gap to bring the score to 7-5. In the fourth Millbrook Captain Mackey Haller 07’ found the cage on a feed by Beau Parent at the 10:35 mark – this goal would become the winner. Hopkins netted two more goals in the fourth to bring the game within one. The two minute offense became critical to maintaining the lead. Our offense responded for the first minute, but a lose ball scramble gave Hopkins one more chance to send the game into overtime. A battle-scared defense found the way to play very smart and aggressive defense to strip the ball with less then thirty seconds on the clock when Dan Mascoveta took the ball away from a Hilltopper attacker and made an excellent pass to a far side teammate to bring the ball back to the Millbrook offense.
It was a team effort throughout the game. Goaltender Chris Bennett 08’ had nine saves on the day with critical stops in the third and fourth quarters. It was a terrific first game for the Mustangs who learned a great deal about teamwork, smart play, and the desire to win. The Mustangs will host Kent School on Wednesday at 3:00PM for their second tilt of the season.
