ITEM PHOTO: KATIE MORRISON
Quinn Brinkler, center, launches a shot between two Winthrop defenders on Monday.
By KATIE MORRISON
LYNN — Defense was the name of the game between the Lynn and Winthrop boys lacrosse teams on a chilly Monday night, and it was the Vikings who surged in the fourth quarter to knock down the Jets, 6-4, at Manning Field.
The two teams had previously met, and the game went pretty much the same way. Strong defense and a lack of offensive firepower from Lynn led to a 6-3 win for Winthrop. The Vikings’ defense was formidable once again, but the Jets were not without their chances throughout the night.
The Vikings struck first on a goal from arguably their biggest offensive threat, Dave Barry. Stephen Rogers added to the Winthrop lead with two minutes left in the first quarter, but the Jets were getting off plenty of shots and looked just inches away from getting one back.
They finally did seven minutes into the second quarter, when Lynn’s Matt Moorehouse found the back of the net.
The Jets dominated possession for much of the second quarter, but Winthrop had a big chance late. Lynn defenseman Brian Clougherty put his body in the way of a hard Winthrop shot to preserve the one-goal deficit, and the Vikings went into the half up one.
An untimely turnover early in the second half led to a quick Winthrop goal from Neville Nowak. But the Jets didn’t let up, and Mike Clougherty netted a goal off a pass from Jack Stafford just two minutes later.
Both goalies had their work cut out for them. Freshman goalie Drew DiMento made some nice saves on a barrage of shots from the Jets, and Lynn goalie Chris Johnson made a few point-blank saves to keep the game close.
But there wasn’t much Johnson could do when Brian Chalmers received a pass just steps in front of the goal. Johnson came out of the net just a bit to cut down the angle, and Chalmers faked him out and snuck beneath his reach to score on an open net and give Winthrop a 4-2 lead.
Again, the Jets didn’t let up, and closed the gap. Ryan Clark made a nice move of his own in front of the Winthrop goal to make it 4-3 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings turned up the heat after Clark’s goal. Rogers scored his second after a Winthrop timeout to regroup, bumping the deficit back to two. Mike Lane added another with four minutes to play to cap Winthrop’s scoring and give them a 6-3 lead.
The Jets kept trying to claw back into the game. Nicky Duong added a goal with 2:30 left to play, but despite their best efforts, the Jets couldn’t get any closer.
“We just couldn’t finish,” said Jets’ coach Peter Pappagianopoulos. “We possessed the ball well, we worked hard…we had the shots, we just couldn’t bury them.”
Pappagianopoulos was happy, especially, with the way his defense played, especially after a tough 15-5 loss to Revere exposed some holes. He credited Mike Clougherty with his play on offense and defense, and Johnson with stopping some tough shots.