Russell’s 5-point game led the way for Hall over East Catholic in boys lacrosse Thursday evening in West Hartford.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

It looked like the only two things that were going to slow Hall’s Connor Russell down in the second half of Thursday’s win over East Catholic were 30 seconds he went off the field and a leg cramp that put him on the turf. His four-goal, one-assist game helped the Titans lacrosse team overcome a 3-2 halftime deficit to beat East Catholic 10-4.

“At halftime I told my seniors this is their last game against East Catholic,” said Hall head coach Keith Blum. “I asked them if they wanted to win it?”

Their response at both ends over the final two quarters showed that not only did the seniors want it, but so did every player on the team.

The opening 12 minutes saw both sides struggle to string together passes to create chances. Just over halfway through it was the Eagles finally breaking the ice on a Tyler King goal. Less than two minutes later it was the Titans answering on Russell’s first of the game. “We had to focus on slowing the ball down,” said the senior attack. “We tried to force it too much after our last game.”

East Catholic would get the final say on scoring in the opening 12 minutes when King came out from behind the Hall cage and found Luca DiPaola who hit the net to make it 2-1. Hall started to show signs of finding their game early in the second, but Eagles goalie Jack Borovsky had three big saves – including one on Russell – to keep his team in front.

Playing a man down, Hall nearly gifted the visitors a two-goal lead on a miscommunication in their own defensive end. A defender tried to pass it to goalie Andy McMullon but he was not expecting it and only deflected the ball down. East’s Nick Galatie was right there and grabbed the loose ball, but McMullon stepped toward him to cut the shooting angle, and managed to snag the shot from 6 feet out.

With just under two minutes to go in the first half it was Hall going on the man advantage and making East pay. John Hunt fired a pinpoint, behind-the-head pass to Russell who tied things at 2 with 1:45 to go in the half. Thirty-nine seconds later it was King putting his team back in front when he carried the ball behind the net from one side to the other and managed to beat McMullon shooting from an angle.

The first half was a physical affair starting with an East defender laying out the Hall ball carrier off the opening face-off. Both sides were using their bodies and their sticks to make contact and create turnovers. Borovsky was especially sharp in net for East Catholic using his stick and size to thwart attacks.

At the break, Blum talked to his players about what he needed to see from them in the final half, and the players took his message to heart. “After coach talked, we got together as players and talked amongst ourselves to work the kinks out,” Russell said.

When they took the field, there were still some kinks and the first showed up just :42 into the third quarter when a Hall player was called for two fouls and sent off for 90 seconds. McMullon was there in net though to pick up the slack, making three strong saves against the man advantage offense and keep it a one-goal game. Just under four minutes in East Catholic added to its lead when  Jack Domaingue slid to the right side of Hall’s goal and went behind the cage, and when he exited on the right side he released a high shot over McMullon’s shoulder for the 4-2 lead.

Fortunately for Hall, that would be the last goal of the game for the Eagles.

As Hall began to build a comeback they found themselves getting whistled frequently. At one point the penalty calls were 8-1 against the Titans. Drew Manaresi would cut it to a 4-3 game at 6:10 when he deposited Connor McHugh’s pass into the net. Less than a minute late it was déjà vu all over again when another behind-the-back pass resulted in the tying goal.

The goal that broke the tie was also the goal that showed how dangerous Hall can be when they work their passing game. Off a dead ball near midfield, Russell made one pass to McHugh who immediately snapped a pass to a cutting Tommy Finley, who one-timed it into the goal for Hall’s first lead of the game.

“We came out hard in the second half and possessed the ball better than we ever have,” said Blum.

The good news for Hall, and bad news for the Eagles, is that the Titans were just getting started on offense, and their defense was playing mistake free. Fifteen seconds into the fourth quarter, Manaresi scored the second goal of what would be a hat-trick, and Russell hit a post right after Borovsky had made a big save in goal.

Russell would pick up the next two goals for Hall as they completely controlled play, pinning East Catholic into their own zone, and also forcing the Eagles to take some penalties of their own. The Russell goals were nearly identical as he used his quickness to move from the side of the net, get a bit of space, and then snap off a shot that flew by Borovsky.

After a ninth goal for Hall, they found themselves on four-man advantages situations, with one of them coming less than :05 after the previous one ended. With 2:10 to go, and Hall on a two-man advantage, it was Hunt getting the 10th and final goal for the Titans to close out the game’s scoring.

East Catholic’s offense was effectively shut down by the Hall defense over the final 24 minutes, while also being dominated in the face-off circle. “I thought our defense was good all game,” said Blum. “All over the field something just clicked after losing our last game to Southington.”

Hall – now at 3-1 on the season – is ranked 11th in Class L and has a pair of home games next week, hosting Xavier on Tuesday and Avon on Thursday before a showdown with unbeaten Bristol Eastern (Class L) on the road.

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