SOUTH HAMILTON — Max Becker did his thing in goal. So did the long poles and D-middies in front of him, and the Pingree middies and attackman up front.
When the final horn sounded Saturday at the school’s turf field, the Highlanders pulled off another inspiring win, taking down powerful New Hampton, 12-10, for their 11th consecutive victory.
Pingree (now 16-1) led 8-4 at the half before visiting New Hampton began its push in the third quarter. The Huskies got to within one before the hosts tightened up defensively, got the lead back to three, watched it go back down, then took a two-goal advantage in the fourth and held on for the triumph.
“The best thing is we didn’t break down in that fourth quarter,” said Highlanders head coach Kevin Tersolo. “We’ve been in games earlier this season that have shown the same situation — at Thayer and at Brewster — and both times we won by the same 12-10 final. So to be able to lock it down defensively once again against a great team like New Hampton that’s coming off of a huge win of its own (vs. Phillips Andover), that says something about our guys.”
Becker, a sophomore who is already a hot Division 1 college prospect, was on top of his game with 15 saves.
“He did really well, especially on our clears getting the ball out quickly to his midfielders,” said Tersolo. “That allowed us to keep the ball offensively and have longer possessions.”
Using the clock smartly in the offensive end, Pingree once again got balanced scoring while pushing their goal total to 209 tallies in 17 games, an average of 12.3 per outing.
Mekhi Taylor and Bodie Cannata both had three goals and one assist for the winners, with Taylor scoring on a couple of absolutely beautiful shots. Riley McClure, the team’s leading scorer, added two goals and two assists, with Sean Stevens adding two scores and a helper while Dylan Feeks also scored twice. Matt Tersolo had an assist as well. Colin McLoy did his part in the faceoff circle, winning 15-of-25 draws.
Pingree’s defense did a solid job slowing down New Hampton’s dangerous midfielder, Syracuse commit Kobe White.
Jamie Book, a short stick defensive middie back from a concussion, had an excellent game for Pingree. Defender Francisco Morales also stepped up with some big fourth quarter stops.
“For Jamie to play as well as he did coming back like that was a huge pick up for us,” said Tersolo.
Pingree can clinch its league championship with victories over Portsmouth Abbey Wednesday on the road and home against Landmark on Monday, May 15.