It was gut check time for the Gloucester boys lacrosse team late in the first half of Monday’s Northeastern Conference Lynch Division contest with Winthrop.
The Fishermen trailed by seven goals with under three minutes to go in the second quarter with the visiting Vikings controlling the action in all facets of the game. Instead of throwing up the white flag, however, Gloucester battled back and made a game of it.
The hosts gained momentum with two goals late in the first half and then won the second half, cutting the deficit to two goals at one point. The comeback bid, however, would fall just shy as Winthrop left Newell Stadium with an 11-8 win in an emotionally charged contest that saw both teams get hit with several after the whistle infractions.
“We really settled down late in the first half and started to play our game,” Gloucester head coach Geoff Kennedy said. “Six-on-six we played well. It was just the penalties and transition. Winthrop took advantage of their man up chances. We’re disappointed in the result but I liked the heart we showed.”
Led by the transition play from Welvis Acosta (4 goals, 3 assists), the Vikings took an 8-1 lead on his goal with three minutes to go in the first half. That’s when the Fishermen started to turn things around.
Sparked by the face-off prowess of Cooper Hedges, who helped Gloucester hold a territorial edge the rest of the way, Gloucester got goals from Brett Cunningham and Colby Jewell in the final minutes of the half to build some momentum and cut the deficit to 8-3 at halftime.
Gloucester (1-4) continued with that momentum in the second half with Evan Anderson and Cunningham finding the back of the net to make it 8-5.
Winthrop extended the lead to 9-5 after three, but the Fishermen continued to chip away at the lead with goals from Jackson Low and Jewell cutting the deficit to 9-7 with 7:38 to play. But Winthrop won the final seven minutes, scoring the next two goals before Gloucester’s Charlie Terelak capped off the scoring with a late fourth quarter goal to make it 11-8 Winthrop.
Kennedy was quick to credit the way his defense played in the second half. Led by senior captain Nick White along with Riley DeHaan and John Gucciardi along with Ethan Mahoney (13 saves) in goal, Gloucester was able to dictate the tempo in the final two quarters to get back in the game.
“We really defended them well in the second half,” Kennedy said. “We didn’t allow many goals even strength and Ethan was such a rock for us in goal, he stole a few goals from them with some big saves.”
Cunningham’s two goals and two assists led the Gloucester offense with Anderson and Jewell also finding the back of the net twice. The Fishermen return to action on Wednesday at home against Hamilton-Wenham (4 p.m.).