Wildcats over Brewster, 9-6

Wildcats Relentless – Battle Back from First Half Deficit to Prevail 9-6 over High Flying Brewster Academy

Now this is the Law of the Jungle-

As old and as true as the sky;

And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper,

But the Wolf that shall break it must die.

In yet another highly anticipated match up in Lakes Region League Lacrosse, the Kimball Union Academy Wildcats hosted an undefeated and very dangerous Brewster Academy team this afternoon on their home Pope Field. With spring winds swirling gently out of the west and sun beams dancing off helmets and sticks, the two teams moved gracefully through their warm up routine with little hint of the contest of wills that was about to unfold. Brewster struck first to take the 1-0 lead at the 8:40 mark and carried the lead through to the second period. In the second midfielder David Robinson (Lexington, MA) took a nifty feed at 10:32 from sophomore attack man Cody Danforth (Milton, VT) to start things off for the Black and Orange. In less than a minute Brewster found the back of the Kimball Union net to regain the lead but Robinson again found Brewster net, this time the assist going to attack man Ryan Hayes (Darien, CT). With the action heating up at both ends of the field and both teams ringing pipe, Brewster scored their third goal of the game to lead 3-2 at the half.

Kimball Union’s Scott Crawford opened the scoring in the second half with a great shot backside low that cleanly beat the Brewster net minder. This was the second extra man goal of the game for Kimball union. Two minutes later Brewster regained the lead but Kimball Union’s Robinson would not be denied as he took another feed from Hayes in yet another extra man situation and buried it deep in the Brewster twine for his third goal and second hat trick in as many games. The Brewster offense surged again and again but each time the Wildcats found a way to defend and push back into the Brewster offensive zone. At 5:33 Scott Schacter (Rumford, RI) took a feed from Crawford and scored a nifty left handed goal in traffic on the Brewster doorstep. Once again Brewster scored the tying goal. With one minute left Co-Capt Evan Roberts (West Cornwall, VT) scooped his own face off, dodged into the heart of the Brewster defense a scored unassisted. Brewster came back with one minute left to deadlock the game for the sixth time on the afternoon. With a never say die attitude, Matt Parker (Shelburne, VT) got the ball to Jamie Schmidt (Shelburne, VT) who put Kimball Union into the lead with 24 seconds left in the third period. The last period unfolded at a frantic pace as both teams struggled to pull away from one another. At 10:24 Danforth scored a huge goal, with the assist going to hardworking Ryan Henry (Norwood, MA), to give the Wildcats a two goal margin and a final surge of adrenalin. With precious seconds ticking away, the Wildcats spread things out and forced Brewster to come out and play on the perimeter. With Brewster pressing hard and with heavy contact, the Wildcats once again when man up. Roberts found Schmidt for the final tally of the day and a 9-6 lead that held up for the final five minutes.

The Wildcat Extra Man Unit scored 4 goals in nine opportunities while the man down unit held Brewster scoreless in five attempts. Robert Bleakley (Lexington, MA) was sensational in goal as he turned away 15 shots, a number of which were spectacular. Co- Capt Trevor McGraw (Meriden, NH) and Colin Young (Dedham, MA) played extremely well on close defense against a potent Brewster attack. But the defensive day belonged to Brian Orr (Medford, MA) who held Brewster’s Syracuse bound Steve Keough to one assist – an amazing accomplishment! Andrew Richardson (Lancaster, MA), Matt Parker and Brent Bourgeois (New Haven, CT) were all major contributors in the day’s effort. Justin Wright (Waccabuc, NY) was likewise sensational as he cleared the ball with amazing speed, shut off Keough in key situations and was a constant threat in transition. Todd Rowley (Billerica, MA) and Henry turned in rock solid performances on both ends of the field. This was truly a great team effort for the Wildcats.

Kimball Union hosts league rival Vermont Academy under the lights on Pope Field on Saturday night. The face off is slated for 7:00 pm.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,

The Law runneth forward and back-

For the strength of the pack is the Wolf,

And the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

- Rudyard Kipling