Blazers Get Big Win at Home
Saturday night was my first time ever watching a lacrosse game and what an experience it was. The Blazers entered the game in a tight playoff race. The Blazer’s got on the scoreboard first thanks to a goal by Daryl Veltman, his 20 of the year. Both teams scored every time they put a shot on goal and the Blazers finished the 1st quarter with a 3-2 lead. Two power play goals by the Blazers in the 1st quarter helped build some early momentum that seemed to last through a majority of the year.
The Blazers were able to add to their lead in the 2nd quarter by outscoring the Swarm 4-2. They led 7-4 at halftime. In the 2nd quarter, Mat Giles added his second goal of the night and his 18th of the season about half way through the quarter. The Swarm seemed unable to stay out of the penalty box in the first half which forced them to be down a man on the field for a good chunk of time. Blazers coach Tom Ryan won a critical challenge in the 2nd quarter where the referees ruled a no goal at first against Jamie Rooney but the played was overturned thanks to the replay and it gave the Blazers at two goal advantage at 6-4.
The Blazers scored two straight goals to start off the 3rd quarter of play. This allowed them to get a quick five goal lead. Aaron Wilson was able to help the Swarm get back into the game by scoring two goals in about a minute. It was his second and third goals of the game. The 3rd quarter ended with the Blazers on top 9-6 as they entered the final quarter of play.
The 4th quarter was crunch time for the Boston Blazers as a record crowd of 10,000 cheered on the home team. Sean Pollack opened up the scoring in the quarter for the Swarm by netting two straight goals within the first three minutes. This cut Boston’s lead back down to one. However, Nick Cotter was the 4th quarter hero for the Blazers by scoring three straight huge goals which stretched the lead out to four. Cotter wasn’t originally supposed to play in this game because of an 8 hour exam he had to take for college but he showed up in a big way. The Blazers ended up winning the game 13-8.
Head coach Tom Ryan said in his post game news conference that the team felt urgency with the playoffs coming up soon. He credits the two won challenges as momentum boosters and mentioned how Cotter wasn’t originally going to play. Captain Dan Dawson said that Nick Cotter helped get the players up and cheering and that the main focus for the team is making the playoffs. Cotter delivered the quote of the night by saying “If we play Blazer’s lacrosse, we should come out with a win”. The Blazer’s certainty played their style of lacrosse tonight and a five goal win came along with it.
Chris Podymaitis is a senior at Somerville High School
The Blazers Beat is a student reporter program which provides high school students access to the Garden on game nights. Students will receive a media credential for a game of their choice, access to the post-game player and coach press conference and can write a game recap which the Blazers will help to publish with their local papers. For more information, contact Krista Olson, Marketing & Event Operations Manager at krista@blazerslacrosse.com.