GRAY — Coach Tyler DeMoore-Gonzalez said playing against Class A teams has been the Gray-New Gloucester/Poland boys lacrosse team’s bread and butter all season long.
The Class C 26ers served up another slice of heaven, beating Edward Little 12-5 on Thursday in a game that featured a 30-minute delay due to lightning and a pushing-and-shoving sideshow that led to seven penalties in the third quarter.
“We play a lot of Class A teams throughout the year,” DeMoore-Gonzalez said. “Honestly, the Class A teams have been our bread and butter. Those have been the teams that we’ve been able to put away. I always love to play a big team, especially when they are down the street.”
Edward Little (3-10) jolted Gray-New Gloucester/Poland (6-8) early in the contest with a three-goal outburst in the opening quarter.
Jack Thompson scored the first goal and Andrew Clements netted back-to-back goals, the second assisted by Evan O’Donnell.
“We really haven’t been a team that showed up in the first quarter,” Edward Little coach Tyler Haskell said. “We’ve been slow starting, slow getting off the bus in recent memory. For them to play that tough first quarter, first half, I think they kind of shocked themselves.”
Meanwhile, DeMoore-Gonzalez said, the 26ers sometimes get behind early.
“It is more typical than I would like,” he said. “I would rather be out front, but we usually take a second to warm up, for whatever reason it is. It was a good team win, and you know what, it is what we needed going into the playoffs.”
The 26ers responded with a goal from Noah Schaeffer on a Caden Ouellette assist.
Ouellette, an attacker, was in the mix on many of Gray-NG’s goal-scoring escapades. He finished the contest with two goals and five assists.
Ouellette pointed to the warm weather for his stellar performance.
“I’ve had shin splints recently, but the trainer taped me up. I was feeling good,” Ouellette said. “I actually like playing in the heat, so I think it helped me out today.”
Ouellette said Thursday’s win is important to the 26ers.
“We’ve had some tough games this year,” Ouellette said. “But a game like this really boosts our confidence going into the playoffs. I think we had a great day.”
The 26ers are currently ranked ninth in the Class C Heal point rankings. If that positioning holds, they’ll open the postseason with a preliminary round game against the eighth seed next week.
Gray-New Gloucester/Poland, trailing 3-1, mounted comeback in Thursday’s game with a three-goal surge in the second quarter.
Ouellette scored off a Ben Powell assist, Aries Plourde added an unassisted goal and Ouellette set up a score by Powell to provide the 26ers with a 4-3 lead going into the second half.
Clements tied the game with an unassisted goal for Edward Little in the third quarter, but then the 26ers went on a seven-goal binge.
Talen Lagevin began Gray-NG/Poland’s parade to the net with a goal off a Miles Post assist. Breck Langevin and Powell followed with a goal apiece, both set up by Ouellette. Schaeffer scored his second goal of the game and Aidan Loignon added another goal to give put the 26ers with a commanding 9-4 lead.
Freshman Tucker Nelson and Ouellette each scored to finished the barrage.
Tempers eventually flared in the middle of the field with some shoving, but officials quickly intervened and handed out seven penalties.
Edward Little scored one more goal in the third quarter, an unassisted tally by Garrett Pray.
The players had to leave the field for 30 minutes after an official spotted lightning in the dark sky early in the fourth quarter.
When play resumed, Powell completed a hat trick with his third goal on an Ouellette assist to make it a 12-5 game.
Edward Little wraps up its season with a road matchup with Mt. Blue (8-5) on Friday night.
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