The Hall boys lacrosse team hosted Pomperaug on Saturday morning in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Tommy Finley  and John Hunt each scored four times, and Drew Manaresi scored three times and added three assists as Hall overcome a sloppy first quarter to down Pomperaug 12-3 in boys lacrosse on Saturday morning.

The opening 12 minutes were at times painful to watch as both sides failed to connect on passes several times. Promising attacks for each side ended with passes that went high or wide of the intended target, or they ended with turnovers. The only score in the first came when Pomperaug took advantage of some Hall confusion and put in the only goal of the period at 7:49.

“We came out slow and needed some waking up,” said Titans head coach Keith Blum. “We couldn’t catch or shoot, but I spoke with them about it after the first.”

Whatever Blum said worked as the Titans came out better organized and better focused in the second and they reeled off five unanswered scores. The first came from Hunt  just :34 in when he scored from in tight on goalie Bobby Kinsella that also drew a penalty on the Panthers. As that penalty expired and Hall kept possession, it was Hunt picking up his second of the period to put Hall in front.

The flow was much better in the second than in the first and both starting goalies had to come up big early in the second. First was Andy McMahon in the Hall net, and then Kinsella with the stop on Hunt’s bid for a hat trick. The senior attack got his revenge when he scored at 7:26 to put Hall up by two at 3-1.

The Titans went up 4-1 on a Connor McHugh goal, and McMahon turned in another pair of big saves before the Titans went down a man on a penalty. The home side managed to get possession down a man and Manaresi and Hunt came in on a 2-on-1 and it was Finley scoring off the turnover.

Hall’s defense was making a habit of using long clearing passes to help set up the offense, and that included McMahon in net. They kept finding open teammates across midfield with the long passes and setup the scoring chances. Charles Ganey nearly converted on one of those clears but his shot from a long ball up from teammate Ben Goldstein was saved by Kinsella with 1:22 to play.

“The clears from our defense were great,” Finley said. “Andy (McMahon) can make any pass.”

McMahon had one of his best saves as the clock slid below 1 minute to play when he went left to right to knock away a low shot from Zach Rohwedder that was ticketed for the back of the net. Hall had the best of the shots in the first half with a 10-2 advantage, and it resulted in a 5-1 halftime lead.

Max Jurkowski relieved Kinsella at the start of the second half and was involved in the game’s craziest play. It started with Hunt coming in on goal and Jurkowski making the save. The ball deflected back and towards the sidelines and Jurkowski ran after it with Hunt hot on his heels. The Hall forward checked the goalie and Jurkowski slipped and fell, leaving Finley to pick up the loose ball, deliver a pass to a teammate, then break towards the empty cage. He got the ball back and scored into the empty net.

It would turn out to be the only score in the third as Hall had the better of possession but was with wide with their shots or Jurkowski made the save. One of his best came from point blank range with just seconds to play in the third. At the other end, McMahon continued to be strong in net, turning in several saves, including three that stood out.

In the fourth, Rohwedder scored his and the Panthers’ second goal with a rocket shot while a man up. With Hunt out for the remainder of the game, it was time for Finley and Manaresi to become the offense for Hall. First it was Finley cutting through the middle, collecting the pass, and scoring. Then it was Manaresi’s turn as he converted his own rebound to make it seven-goal lead.

Hall was up 10-2 when Finley converted a pass from Manaresi who was behind the cage at 4:01. The Titans would get goal number 12 just over 30 seconds later when they forced a turnover and the final past found Manaresi, who beat his defender  and fired in the shot.

With McMahon having been substituted out, the Panthers picked up their third goal with just 2:00 to play in the game, and right after that is when things turned ugly. First it was Hall’s Ben Putnam taking a hard foul and then being cross-checked as he lay on the ground with a Pomperaug player on his back. That resulted in four minutes in penalties for the visitors. Right after that play, Pomperaug’s Matt Kugler delivered a dangerous, high cross check to the head of a Hall player, leading to his ejection and to his coach telling him loudly “that’s not how we play.”

Hall finished out the rest of regulation with control off the ball, being up two players and running out the clock for the nine-goal win to move to 6-4 on the season.

Hall has been playing without one of their top scorers in senior attack Connor Russell who is out with a hamstring injury. His absence has forced Blum and his players to adjust to new positions and new responsibilities.

“We are missing Connor,” Finley said after the game. “It is a hole in the offense but we have to get used to that.”

On Saturday Hall was also playing without two other regulars due to injuries and absence. “I am pleased with the job we did today with this group of players,” Blum said.

Next week, Hall will travel to Madison to face Daniel Hand on Tuesday, and will be back home on Thursday to face West Hartford’s Northwest Catholic.

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