No. 11 Scituate boys lax falls to No. 6 Minnechaug, 12

SCITUATE — History repeats itself, and sometimes you just hope not to be on the wrong end of it.

Unfortunately for the Scituate High boys lacrosse team, their Division 2 journey stopped once again in the Sweet 16 Thursday after a 12-10 loss to No. 11 Minnechaug.

Last season, the No. 4 Sailors lost to No. 13 Westwood in the same round.

This game was a back-and-forth fight which saw Minnechaug jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first two minutes. From there on, the sixth-seeded Sailors (13-9) couldn't find a way to tie it up, but they were able to get within two goals a couple of times. The matchup was hard fought till the very end.

"We battled hard," said Scituate head coach Mark Puzzangara. "We just needed to be a little better at ground balls. We gave (away) a lot of extra possessions ... but we battled and never quit."

Sophomore attack Willie Robinson led the Sailors with six goals. He also had six goals in the last round -- a 17-5 win over Oliver Ames. He's still got some time to develop, but it's evident that he's the guy that's next up.

"Willie's the man," said Puzzangara. "He's a hell of a player. We’re fortunate we have two more years of him. He's going to be one of the best players in the state."

The Sailors will head to Div. 3 next season and are already looking ahead. And with a young star on their hands, they’re ready for the competition. But first, they’ll have to get over this loss.

"It's tough," said Robinson. "(I got) flashbacks from last year in the second round, but it's a great group of guys here. We’re moving down to D3 next year, so we’re looking at the schedule and ready to get back into it."

Scituate goalie Reid Fulton, a senior captain, finished with 12 saves. He made a diving save over the net after leaving it unattended in the final minutes of the game. He played a big, impactful role in the Sailors making it to this point.

"He's had a great career," said Puzzangara. "He had a strong game. I’m sure there's some (plays) he probably wants back, but other than that he's been doing that all year long."

Whether it's Fulton "bringing the team closer together" or driving Robinson to practice and playing all three sports together (football and indoor track & field), he's proud of his guys.

"I’m so proud of my team," said Fulton. "These are my brothers, so when you play such a difficult sport, it's so intense it brings you guys together."

Other Sailors to score were senior captain Dan Brown and juniors Charlie Hartwell (two) and Jacob O’Malley. The other seniors on the team are captains Tim Lochiatto and Lawrence Quinn.

Now Minnechaug (15-3) will head back to the South Shore to face No. 3 Duxbury (18-3). The Elite 8 showdown (Saturday at 4 p.m.) is a rematch of last year, when Duxbury won 10-5 in the same round.

"It feels good to win at the other person's field," said Minnechaug's Mike Delia. "Now we can get to come again and face Duxbury for kind of a rematch of last year's game. We're kind of looking forward to it, but I have to hand it to Scituate, they played a tremendous game. They came back."