WALES — Oak Hill boys lacrosse shut down Morse when it mattered the most, the fourth quarter.
The Shipbuilders got within two goals less than five minutes into the final period, but the Raiders offense played keep-away for most of the remainder of the game to earn a 12-8 Class C quarterfinal victory Friday at Stacen Doucette Field.
“So, really … our defense builds off our offense,” Oak Hill coach David Snyder said. “In the second and the fourth, we did a much better job of keeping the ball on the offensive end. So, you know, so the longer we were able to hold it, the better our defense looks, basically is what it comes down to.”
Matt Fecteau and Nathan Dillman added insurance goals in the fourth for Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon/St. Dominic.
The fourth-seeded Raiders (9-6) will face top-seeded Winthrop/Maranacook (12-3) in the state semifinals next week.
How did Oak Hill win?
• Morse/Boothbay (8-7) started strong. Peyton James scored the first goal of the game, and Austin Wood made it 2-0.
Kaiden Delano got the Raiders on the board, but Wood scored twice more for a 4-1 Shipbuilders advantage.
• Delano netted a couple more goals before the end of the opening quarter, and Oak Hill started to gain momentum when Gage Spier found Fecteau in the first minute of the second quarter to tie the game at 4-4. Delano recorded his fourth goal of the game midway through the quarter to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead.
• The teams traded goals in the third quarter, after which Oak Hill led 10-7. Nathan Spillman scored twice for the Raiders, Gage Spier added a goal and two assists, Delano found the back of the net again and had an assist, and Aiden Belanger scored one goal.
James scored twice and defenseman Sawyer Wright once for Morse in the third. Michael Ryan scored the Shipbuilders’ fourth-period goal.
• Will Hinkley joined Spier as Oak Hill’s key set-up men.
“Gage does a really good job and Will (Hinkley) is a freshman,” Delano said. “I must say, he will be a killer player, he’s already an amazing player. He sees the field to make those good assists.”
They said it
• “They played great defense down the stretch and our offense couldn’t produce the way it has been. And, you know, ground balls, they definitely took that tally. So, you know, combine those two things and it hurt us on the scoreboard. We probably played 70 percent of that second and fourth quarter on defense. So the fourth quarter, it’s hard to win when you’re constantly don’t have the ball.” — Morse/Boothbay coach Cooper Quenneville
• “(Delano) is a big leader on the team. He’s a captain and he likes to keep the emotional aspect of the sport in control of himself. I think he’s a very good captain emotionally, and he makes sure everyone is reassured we are going to be OK and we are going to go down the field and we are going to score.” — Nathan Dillman
Statistical leaders
• Morse/Boothbay: Austin Wood (3 goals), Peyton James (3 goals), Hunter Everett (13 saves).
• Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon/St. Dom’s: Kaiden Delano (5 goals, assist), Nate Dillman (3 goals), Gage Spier (goal, 6 assists), Will Hinckley (4 assists), Carter Austin (15 saves).
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