No. 2 St. John's Prep continues to roll, defeating Lincoln-Sudbury to earn shot at fifth straight Division 1 title

Boston Globe

a day ago

'Every year is a new season,' said Prep coach John Pynchon. 'In high school sports, there is no repeating from last year. You have to start over, and this year, we've learned that in some awkward ways with some stuff that we were trying to do that we needed to rethink.'
Senior FOGO Will Crawford (16 for 19 on faceoffs) set the table by winning seven of the first nine faceoffs, and Prep's ride and defense limited the Warriors (15-5) on offense with sophomore Mattheus Du Plessis making six saves during a 7-1 first half.
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Prep already up 3-0 mid Q1. L-S has not gained possession. Latest Prep goal here Jack Quigley off pass from Luke Kelly. ⁦
— Nate Weitzer (@nweitzer7)
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The Eagles expanded their lead to 9-2 in the third quarter with Beckett Lee (3 goals) and Luke Kelly (goal, 3 assists) leading the charge, and 10 players logged points for a program that has reached an unparalleled level of depth.
'If a guy wants to show up and be committed to what we're doing, then we're going to make a commitment to having him here, and that's been a core part of our success,' Pynchon said. 'We have a massive bench because these guys put the work in. They work. They earn it. And I wish I had more uniforms.'
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St. John' Prep's Cam McCarthy holds possession as Owen Vona of Lincoln-Sudbury defends.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
BC High 14, Acton-Boxborough 11 —
There is only one hill left for Marcus Craigwell and BC High to climb, but it's quite a mountain.
The top-seeded Eagles (19-3) held serve Wednesday night at Burlington High with a 14-11 win over fifth-seeded Acton-Boxboro (17-4) in the Division 1 semifinals, setting up yet another matchup with Catholic Conference rival St. John's Prep (21-1) for the state championship (Saturday at Mass Maritime).
BC High's David Leahy of BC High celebrates his goal against Acton-Boxborough.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Prep has beaten BC High in 13 of their past 15 meetings, including thrice in the state finals from 2021-2023, and in the semifinals last June.
'There's no pressure on us,' Craigwell said about the impending matchup. 'We just have to play our game, play with confidence, and execute what we've done in practice.'
End 3: BC High 11, Acton-Boxboro 8. Will Cronin scored twice in the final mins including here off the rebound, keeping A-B within striking distance.
— Nate Weitzer (@nweitzer7)
'We haven't finished the job, so that's always in the back of our minds. Playing Prep is like playing a conference opponent in [the NFL]. Regardless of the [records], everyone shows up, and it can go either way.'
BC High took an early 5-0 lead and held off multiple runs from A-B in the semifinals. The Revolution won the second quarter and tied the third when Will Cronin (3 goals) scored twice in the final minutes of the frame, but they could not close a three-goal gap.
Acton-Boxborough's Nick Argento of Acton-Boxborough (left) knocks the ball out as defenders surround BC High's Murphy Belvin.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The Eagles high-powered offense proved too much, as Luke Allen (3 goals, assist), Joe Leach (4 goals, assist), and Nick Emsing (3 goals, 2 assists) dazzled with several highlight goals and deft connections to beat the Revolution defense.
'We couldn't ask for a better team to prepare us for the final game,' said Craigwell. 'A-B is well coached, they weren't going to give up, so it was the best preparation we could have. Our offense needed to win the game and our offense did.'
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Christian Maranian with a rocket on the man-up and :21 later Tristan Clayton scores to bring A-B within 7-5 in the final minute of 1H
— Nate Weitzer (@nweitzer7)
Division 2 State
Reading 10, Westwood 9
— In a game where neither team led by more than one goal, the sixth-seeded Rockets made sure the hat trick tally of senior Nate Mulvey stood as the winner.
Sophomore attack Connor Wicken scored four goals to compliment Mulvey's trick as Reading (19-3) managed two minutes of keep-away to put away the 10th-seeded Wolverines (16-8) at Weston High.
They kept possession the last two minutes and
— AJ (@aj_traub)
The Rockets, in pursuit of their third state title after winning in 2018 and 2023, will face the winner of the semifinal between top-seeded Billerica and fifth-seeded Mansfield in the state championship final at Mass Maritime Academy.
'They're a good team, but you knew we could do it,' Mulvey said. 'We knew we could win from the jump, so that's all we had to do.'
Wicken said the team treats him like anyone else even though he's a sophomore, and he played like it. He sniped a thin angle shot to tie it, 1-1, and scored the last goal of the first half and first of the second to help the Rockets surge to a 9-8 lead.
'It's an awesome feeling,' Wicken said. 'We worked so hard all season for this, and that's a great team that we just punched in the mouth so many times. They punched back so many times.'
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Freshman goaltender Charlie Webberly made 11 saves, junior midfielder Nick Casarano deposited two goals, and senior attack Cullen Granara scored another. Senior midfielder Tomaso DeLuca was key on faceoffs.
'We play a lot off of our fuel and our energy and our emotion,' said Reading coach Rob Parkin. 'I'm okay with them playing a little bit up, but… just take a deep breath, enjoy the moment.'
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Billerica 10, Mansfield 7
— Daniel Venezia, who scored three goals, broke a 6-6 tie midway through the third quarter with a firecracker into the back of the net to ignite the top-seeded Indians (21-1).
In its three previous playoff victories, Billerica had scored 19 goals, 21 goals, and 11 goals. So when its attack slowed midway through the semifinal against fifth-seeded Mansfield (20-2), there didn't appear to be any concern.
Billerica's Daniel Venezia attempts to get around a Mansfield defender during a Division 3 semifinal win.
Evan Walsh
The Indians knew they would get in the rhythm again. Venezia provided the spark at Assabet High in Marlborough to send Billerica to its first title game appearance since 2001.
'We've been battle-tested all year. We knew we were going to be in for a fight. Watching Mansfield on film, they were good, man – really, really good,' said Billerica coach Ryan Nickerson. 'We knew we were in for a battle, and it wasn't going to be an easy one. We knew the offense was going to break through, and it just took until the fourth.'
Billerica's Daniel Venezia celebrates a goal with two teammates.
Evan Walsh
Division 3 State
Scituate 11, Medfield 9 —
Junior midfielder Luke Spaulding scored four goals to lead the fifth-seeded Sailors (18-5) in an upset of the defending champion and top-seeded Warriors (18-3).
Haunted by a 13-4 loss against Medfield in last year's state tournament, Scituate coach Mark Puzzangara trusted his players were capable of defying the odds and competing against a well-organized and powerful Warriors team.
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'We didn't have any credit or any chance to beat this team,' said Puzzangara, whose team will face fifth-seeded Falmouth in the Division 3 state championship at Mass Maritime Academy. 'We just locked down, had a great defensive game plan in place, and just executed. We weren't going to be intimidated….They're a great team, but we know that we're a great team as well. We put it all together tonight.'
Although Medfield's game plan was to shut down star senior Willy Robinson (2 goals), Scituate's supporting cast stepped up under the lights, including Spaulding, senior Owen Hofford (3 goals, 3 assists), junior Owen Quinn (2 goals), and senior draw specialist Leo Anthony who went toe-to-toe with Medfield's Johnny Olenik.
'He didn't allow [Olenik] to hurt us,' Puzzangara said. 'When he did win the draws, just defensively, we were so on-point with everything, with our slides, with our assignments, with our coverages. If we did have a little breakdown, [goaltender] Lydon O'Brien was there to bail us out with big saves.'
Puzzangara and the Sailors return to the championship game with plenty of veterans who were a part of the squad that finished runner-up last year.
'I couldn't be more proud of how we played as a team,' Puzzangara said of Scituate's semifinal upset of Medfield. 'That's really what it came down to, [us] playing as a team.'
Falmouth 14, Nauset 3
— At Barnstable, Travis Smith and Jamison Murphy each scored four goals. Jackson Smith added three, the first coming 80 seconds into the game.
'When we start strong and start fast, it gives us a ton of confidence' said Falmouth head coach Rory Morse.
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Sophomore Gavin Powderly made 10 saves for the Clippers. Senior captain Jacob Porkka was key to the Clippers dominant defensive effort.
Nauset was without star midfielder Logan Smith, a one-time Vermont lacrosse commit, who was attending the United States Hockey League camp in Wisconsin.
The Clippers (18-5) will play fifth-seeded Scituate for the Division 3 state championship at Mass Maritime Academy.
Division 4 State
Cohasset 11, Nantucket 2
— junior captain Gus Greene scored three goals to pace the top-seeded Skippers (20-2) in a semifinal at Barnstable High.
In total, four players netted multiple goals. Michael Wildfire was sound defensively. Senior captain Lincoln Pattison made timely saves in the third quarter as Cohasset smothered the fourth-seeded Whalers (15-6) with 10 combined goals in a blowout second and third quarters to reach the state championship game at Mass Maritime Academy.
The Skippers, who will be making their first title game appearance since 2023, will face third-seeded Norwell in the championship.
After battling to a 1-1 tie in the first 12 minutes, the Skippers controlled the game in the middle two quarters, outscoring the defending champions, 10-0, in that span.
'We've got some great athletes on [defense],' said Cohasset coach Steve Rotondi. 'I thought the kids did a great job today going out and doing everything we worked on.'
Norwell 15, Manchester Essex 6
— Dictating the tempo from start to finish, the third-seeded Clippers (16-6) coasted to a state semifinal victory over the seventh-seeded Hornets(17-5) at Watertown.
From the opening draw, Norwell was in complete control, opening with a 5-0 run in the first five minutes before the Hornets scored their first goal. The second quarter saw an exchange of runs, with the Clippers' fire-at-will attack producing a pair of goals for a 7-1 lead. The Hornets answered with three goals to pull within 7-4, but Norwell pulled away by erupting for three more goals for a 10-4 lead.
'These guys did a great job stepping up, taking away what [Norwell] wanted to do, and moving the ball quickly on offense,' said coach Josh Stolp.
Norwell dominated the second half, outscoring the Hornets, 5-2, to seal the victory.
Norwell back-to-back Division 3 championships in 2022 and 2023, and is making its first Division 4 title game appearance.
Captains Jake McGuirk and Oliver Rice notched multi-goal games to relishanother ride to the state title game against a familiar foe in top-seeded Cohasset.
'[Cohasset's] a good team, so we're looking forward to it,' said McGuirk, recalling how the Clippers suffered a 12-11 loss to Cohasset May 17. 'We're definitely hungry, but we know what we have ahead of us.'
Correspondents Nate Weitzer reported from Burlington, Tyler Amaral from Barnstable, Joe Eachus from Watertown, AJ Traub from Weston and Evan Walsh from Marlborough.
Nate Weitzer can be reached at