PARIS — The switch from goalie to midfield paid off for Oxford Hills’ Silas Timms.
The junior scored his first career varsity goal 91 seconds into overtime to give the Vikings a 6-5 boys lacrosse victory over Edward Little at Gouin Athletic Complex on Tuesday afternoon.
“It feels good to have that transition paid off and (be) successful in that transition,” Timms said.
Timms picked up the loose ball across midfield and made his run to the net.
“I saw one defender in the middle, and I knew I could beat him,” Timms said. “I had the open goal. I went back to muscle memory and got the shot off.”
Oxford Hills coach Hunter Rowell’s message was simple to his players at the start of overtime.
“We were talking, and I said: ‘It’s a start of a new game, and we worked too hard to lose this one. Take those extra seconds and impact moments to get the ball where it needs to go,'” Rowell said.
Oxford Hills (2-5) battled back from a 4-2 deficit at halftime.
Midfielder Nick Bancroft made a run to the crease and made a dish to Tyler Britton, who shot the ball past Edward Little goalie Daulton David (nine saves) early in the third quarter to get the Vikings within one goal.
Rowell got the players ready for the second half, according to attacker Derrick Brooks.
“Coach is really good at hyping us up at halftime,” Brooks said. “He got us (hyped), and we got that one goal, then the boys started buzzing.”
Brooks tied the game at 4-4 when he ran through the Red Eddies (1-5) defenders to score his second goal of the game at the 9:19 mark of the third quarter. He scored 30 seconds later to give the Vikings a 5-4 lead.
Brooks said that in the third quarter the team slowed down the offense after it struggled in the second quarter.
“We really just have to slow it down and run our offense,” Brooks said. “When we are (rushing), we aren’t running our offense, and that’s what kills us. And turnovers. Once we slow it down and get it into (the zero formation), we can run (our offense).”
Edward Little hit the post early in the fourth quarter, and Oxford Hills goalie Troy Edmunds (11 saves) made a key stop in the middle of the period.
“(Edmunds) made his 100th save of the season during this game,” Rowell said. “He’s creeping up on the program record of 142. He’s going to do it this year for sure.”
The Red Eddies had a few penalties in the final five minutes of the quarter.
Edward Little coach Tom Smith credited the Red Eddies defense for giving the team a chance to tie the game.
“We had a lot of penalty minutes there, and credit to our defense to be able to hold (Oxford Hills) off and not let them score during that time,” Smith said. “It’s a lot to ask from a defense, but they stepped up to the challenge quite well.”
Wesley Clements shot from distance and beat Edmunds with under a minute to play to tie the game at 5-5 and force overtime.
The teams traded goals to begin the game, starting when Clements found teammate Camren Dufour, who gave the Red Eddies a 1-0 lead.
Oxford Hills quickly responded when midfielder Tristan White found Brooks to tie the game at 1-1.
Dufour set up Edward Little’s second goal when he made a pass to Andrew Clements, who fired his shot past Edmunds.
Jack Bressette scored in transition for Oxford Hills to tie the game at 2-2.
Edward Little scored a man-up goal late in the first quarter when Tyler Smith scored his only goal of the game. Andrew Clements had the assist.
Wesley Clements scored an unassisted effort early in the second quarter to stretch the Red Eddies’ lead to 4-2.
The goal was the lone tally for either team in the quarter.
“Our offense started off quite well, and our defense played well the entire game, but the offense had a big lull between the second quarter and third quarter,” Smith said. “We didn’t score again until a minute left (in the game). That was the tough part, but it was a good job to fight back. We just need to close out those kinds of games.”
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