Boys Lacrosse: Blind Brook rallies to victory under the lights at Fox Lane

Will Gilligan wins a face-off for the Foxes. Will Oliverio makes a pass in transition. Owen Baker fires a shot for a goal as he recorded his 100th career point for the Foxes. Declan Connors looks to pass. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN

It was an exciting start for the Fox Lane boys varsity lacrosse team, but it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.

Fox Lane got off to a good start as the Foxes hosted Blind Brook on April 23, but the second half belonged to the Trojans as they held the Foxes to just one goal in the half and rallied to defeat Fox Lane 7-5.

The Foxes led throughout the first half, but Blind Brook kept answering back and it was a one-goal game at halftime with the Foxes clinging to a 4-3 lead.

Blind Brook was fired up once the sun went down and the lights came on, and the Trojans took control and closed it out.

“They were hungry for it, fired up for a night game,” Fox Lane coach Charlie Rice said of Blind Brook, “Defensively we held them pretty well. If you keep a team to seven goals you’re doing your job on defense. Our offense was not great tonight. Will Gilligan was winning a ton of faceoffs doing a great job getting us possession, but when it got down there on offense we just couldn’t finish and get it done.”

Fox Lane got off to a great start on offense as Will Oliverio scored the first goal of the game off an assist from Owen Baker at the 10:28 mark in the first period for a 1-0 lead. It was the 100th career point for Baker as the senior star continues to make his mark at Fox Lane.

Baker then ripped a shot for a goal just a couple of minutes later and the Foxes were up 2-0.

However, Blind Brook scored to close out the first quarter and gain some momentum. The Trojans then started the second quarter with a goal to tie it up at 2-2.

The momentum then went right back to the Foxes just 15 seconds later as Gilligan won the face off and passed it to Baker, who then fed John Mains in front for a goal to reclaim the lead at 3-2.

Mains then scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Declan Connors to make it 4-2.

Once again Blind Brook was able to answer scoring with two minutes left in the half to cut the lead down to 4-3.

And then the second half was all Blind Brook as the Trojans scored a pair of goals to take a 5-4 lead.

Oliverio answered for Fox Lane as he ripped a long shot for his second goal of the game to tie it up at 5-5 with 1:08 left in the third period.

“Owen Baker got his 100th career point, he’s been great these past two years having a huge impact on our offense,” added Rice. “Our offense comes and goes as Baker does, and we need some other guys to step up. Will Oliverio has been great all over the field. In between the boxes he dominates, he can push transitions, take the ball away, score a goal, he can do everything from end line to end line.”

Fox Lane was unable to gain the momentum though as the Foxes took a pair of penalties and Blind Brook capitalized on the two-man advantage with a goal to reclaim the lead. The Trojans then closed it out as time was running down with a minute left to play for the 7-5 win.

The Foxes had scored a big win on the road at Brewster just two days earlier on April 21, as Baker had a big game with four goals and an assist. Connors scored a goal and had two assists, while Mains also had two assists. John Hamilton came up big in goal for the Foxes with 21 saves to record the win.

With the loss to Blind Brook, Fox Lane now stands at 3-6 overall on the season. The Foxes were set to host Hen Hud on Saturday, April 26.