The Conard boys lacrosse team defeated Joel Barlow 14-10 on Saturday in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Ben Walsh (6), Liam Alver (3), and Jordan Lawson (3) combined for 12 of Conard’s 14 goals as the undermanned Red Wolves rallied in the second half to beat Joel Barlow High 14-10 in boys lacrosse on Saturday.

Conard was missing several players, including starters – some injured, some away on spring break – but no one was going to let that be an excuse. “We talked about focusing on who was here,” said head coach Matt Cersosimo. “I am proud of them.”

The visiting Falcons (0-3) opened things with a 3-plus minute possession off the opening faceoff, but could only manage two shots that both went wide. Conard made the most of its first possession as Walsh scored his first of the game at 8:15. The junior faked a first shot, then reset before firing the ball past Barlow goalie John Gurney. Walsh would score his second, and the second goal of the game later in the first before Chase Bonanno would score for the Falcons. Conard goalie Chuck Doyle made the initial save on a low shot from Bonanno, but the ball deflected straight up in the air and Bonanno fired it back in with just :31 to play.

Barlow opened the second by tying things on a goal from Kaden Holub before the Red Wolves’ Walsh would get his third of the game while his team was a man up. This time it was Brady Meehan with the great pass to set up Walsh for the go-ahead score. Lawson got into the scoring at 4:51 when he carried the ball left to right, making shooting space out front and delivering a rocket past Gurney for the 4-2 lead. But much like it would be all game, Barlow came right back with a score of its own from Frankie Branca right in front of the cage. They would tie things up at 2:16 when Alan Gurney ripped a hard shot past Doyle from about 25 yards out. The Falcons nearly took the lead as time was about to expire, but Doyle hit the splits to deny a scoring chance, and it was 4-4 at intermission.

Both offenses put on a show during a span of 2:22 in the third period, scoring some creative and spectacular goals. First it was Meehan of Conard carrying the ball out from behind the cage. As he turned the corner he flipped a back handed shot past John Gurney for the lead at 8:52. Fifty-seven seconds later it would be Matty Branca scoring the first of his five second-half goals when he deposited a blast from the right side into the Conard net at 7:55.

One minute and 25 seconds later Conard retook the lead. It started when Gurney’s pass to a teammate at midfield was intercepted. Alver saw Lawson and Meehan streaking for the goal as Gurney retreated back to his cage. Alver connected with leaping Meehan, who got the ball to Lawson and he scored over Gurney to make it 6-5 with 6:30 to go in the third.

“They (Conard) showed a lot of resilience today,” Cersosimo said of his offense. “They were not going to be denied.”

Holub scored his second of the game when he was left alone in front, before Alver worked the ball along the right side before finding Walsh open about 12 yards out. The middie made no mistake and it was a one-goal lead again for Conard with 3:00 to go. “Our offense was on its game today,” said Walsh. “We were shooting with purpose.”

It looked like things would stay that way into the fourth quarter, but the Falcons showed that every second counts. With :06 to play, John Gurney made a save for Barlow, and whipped a pass to a teammate near the middle of the field. He turned and found Matty Branca unmarked in front of Doyle and the Conard goal, and hit him with a quick pass that Branca turned into the tying goal at 7.

It didn’t take the host team long to respond as on its first possession a play was called for Alver out of the Conard set up. The senior middie made the most of it, scoring at 11:11 to give the Wolves an 8-7 lead. Walsh would pad that to a two-goal cushion 1:01 later off a nice individual effort from the left side of the goal. Branca would respond again less than two minutes later when he went high on Doyle with a hard shot. Fifty-one seconds later it was Alver restoring the two-goal lead for Conard. His shot from 25 yards out, but right up the middle, seemed to foul the goalie Gurney.

Branca would once again try to rally his team when he scored at 6:47 to make it a 10-9 Red Wolves lead. Conard went down a man at the same time as the goal and Doyle – who had turned in some big stops all game – had one of his best to keep the lead.

Then, with 5:19 to play, the strangest goal of the game happened. Barlow’s goalie and defense were facing the sun, and after he made a save, Doyle launched a full field pass that landed about 6 yards in front of the goal. The defenders struggled to pick it up, and the ball hit, bounced high, and spun backwards into Alver’s pocket and he scored before anyone could react. “I didn’t even see the whole play,” said Doyle who picked up the assist on the goal. “When I clear the ball I snap my stick down, so maybe that’s what created the backspin.”

Barlow was not going to go away quietly and Doyle was forced to make another huge save on Julian Fusco’s bit at 4:56. “He had a lot of good saves for us today,” Cersosimo said of his sophomore goalie. “His ability to help us clear the ball is a big advantage for us.”

Walsh would pick up the next goal for Conard and was also involved in the following goal that made it a four-goal lead. On the latter goal Walsh grabbed a ground ball coming out of the faceoff and raced downfield with it. He found Lawson in a scoring position and the senior delivered just 12 seconds after the Walsh goal to make it 13-9 with 4:27 to go.

Conard had struggled all day on the face-off, but in the second half moved defender (and football running back) Holden Smith into the FO position and that changed things. “We decided to use Holden and he just used his strength boxing people out and letting our wings come in to help,” Cersosimo said. “Once Holden got in there, we did a good job,” added Walsh.

Conard would surrender one more goal with a little over four minutes to play and also take another penalty at the same time to give the man-advantage to Barlow, which was trailing 13-10. The Falcons put on the pressure, but it was Walsh doing it on defense this time that ended the threat. He stepped in front of an attempted cross field pass in his own D zone, and proceeded to carry the ball all the way into the Barlow defensive end, killing off valuable time. “Ben was on fire for us today,” said his coach. “He gave us a big effort on offense and defense and was really a spark for us.”

Meehan would score the game’s final goal, in much the same style has he had scored earlier in the game. Emerging from the side of the cage with the ball, he found space, cut into the center of the goal, and let go a shot from about 10-yards out that sealed the deal for the Red Wolves at 14-10.

The win moves Conard to 3-1 on the season, with its only loss being in a one-goal affair to East Lyme to open the season. They are back in action on Tuesday when they host New Milford in a non-conference matchup at McKee Stadium. The Green Wave were 1-2 entering Saturday’s game with Guilford.

Game notes

• Walsh finished the game with six goals and one assist.
• Alver picked up the hat trick and four assists on the day.
• Lawson also had a three-goal game.
• Meehan finished with two goals and one assist for Conard.
• Barlow was led by freshman Matty Branca who scored five goals – all in the second half.

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