Exeter 9  Winchester HS 7
Wed., 5/14, Exeter - As the saying goes, "a win is a win." Although it was not a pretty display of lacrosse and crisp execution, the Exeter BIG RED managed to hold up against a 2nd half rally to notch a 9-7 win over the very physical Sachems from Winchester HS. In the very first meeting between these two traditionally strong programs, Exeter used a 3-goal outburst in the 2nd quarter to turn a 2-2 game into a 5-2 halftime lead. Exeter's poor shooting and a couple of solid pipe shots prevented the score from being an even larger margin in Exeter's favor. When offensive star of the day Tom Petty scored unassisted within two minutes of the beginning of the 2nd half to take the score to 6-2, it looked like Exeter could break the game open. However, Winchester continued their very aggressive, risk-taking, and hard-hitting style of lacrosse, and they were able to string together three unanswered goals of their own in less than two minutes. It was now clear that Exeter would be in a dogfight the rest of the way, and that is how the game progressed. Once again, it was Tom Petty (4 goals, 1 assist) who scored unassisted to break the Winchester string and make the game a 7-5 contest. Winchester was then able to narrow the margin to one goal near the end of the 3rd quarter, but that would be as close as they would come. Game ball winner Tom Rubel led the defense when he switched from LSM to close defense in the absence of injured starter Stew Stout. Tom repeatedly stripped his attackman of the ball, scooped up many groundballs, and made great decisions on the clears. In fact, it was a great pass from Tom to middie Mike Scalise who then fed attackman Eric Horan for Exeter's 8th goal at the six-minute mark of the 4th quarter. This goal proved to be the game winner. Once again, Winchester narrowed the margin to one when they scored with 45 seconds remaining in the game. However, co-captain Gavin Nurick gobbled up the next faceoff, ran the ball into the offensive zone, and kept it away from a scrambling Winchester defense. Ryan Ambs scored a final goal as time expired to produce the final score of 9-7. Exeter now faces the nationally ranked 11-1 powerhouse from Deerfield Academy this Saturday. It will take a great effort and almost a flawless performance if the 10-3 BIG RED is going to upset the GREEN.
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Team	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Game Total
Exeter	2	3	2	2	9
Winchester	2	0	4	1	7

Game Ball Winner(s) - Tom Rubel

Game Scoring - Goals - Petty(4), Horan(3), Smith, Ambs

                           Assists - Petty, Hines(2), Scalise

Saves/Shots on Goal - Rodier 12/19