Exeter 7  Pomfret School 6
Pomfret, CT, Wednesday, April 20th - For the second consecutive game, Exeter went on the road and defeated a previously undefeated opponent. Today's game was a hard fought 7-6 victory over Pomfret School on an unusually hot 80 plus day. Once again, Exeter was very sluggish and slow starting in the first quarter. Pomfret's faceoff men proved to be very formidable, and that helped the Griffins maintain ball control for much of the first half, and establish a 1-0 lead after the 1st quarter. Exeter made some careless offensive and transition mistakes to keep turning the ball back to Pomfret, so we were never able to develop a rhythm or flow to the game. In addition, Exeter committed eleven penalties on the day, almost as many in all previous games combined, and another factor in making it difficult for the offense to get into a flow. After Pomfret went ahead 2-0 early into the 2nd quarter, Exeter decided to play a more aggressive pressure defense and try and change momentum and cause turnovers. This strategy worked, and Exeter played their best lacrosse in the 2nd quarter. Leading the way was game ball winner Brett Hughes. Brett was all over the field competing and winning ground ball battles. He played tight man-to-man defense on Pomfret's top middies and created several turnovers. Brett was also a one-man clearing machine on a few occasions. Also deserving special mention in this turnaround cause is defender Ian Drummond. Ian stood out among the defenders for both his individual defensive work, his work in the man-down zone, as well as being responsible for creating and leading a fast break that resulted in an important goal. Three minutes into the 2nd quarter, Sam Duprey ended the Exeter scoring drought off a nice assist from Brett Davis. A few minutes later, Mark Scalise tied the game at 2-2 on a Travis Glennon feed, but Pomfret managed to take the lead again at 3-2 just one minute after that. This time, Michael Scalise scored the 3-3 equilizer a couple minutes later off a nice assist from big brother Mark. Michael Scalise pumped in his second goal just before the half when captain Kirk Bansak created a fast break and found Michael for a beautiful assist. Exeter outscored Pomfret 2-1 in the 3rd quarter to take a 2-goal lead going into the last period. Although Pomfret managed to cut the lead to one at the nine-minute mark, Jon Higgins put in a shot with five minutes remaining in the game to push the lead back to a more comfortable two goals. Once again penalties hurt Exeter near the end as Pomfret's last goal came from a man-down situation. Although the defense allowed a season high six goals, they were playing man-down almost one fourth of the game. Pat Flynn, Frank Andrews, Coleman Peeke, and short stick defender Kirk Bansak deserve special mention for their excellent man down defensive work. Leading the offense were Mark Scalise (2g,2a), Travis Glennon (3assists), Michael Scalise (2g,), and Brett Davis (1g,1a). Although it was a win, Exeter can definitely play better. Hopefully, returning to our home field this Saturday will result with a more even performance than the last two.

Team	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Game Total
Exeter	0	4	2	1	7
Pomfret	1	2	1	2	6

Game Ball Winners - Brett Hughes

Game Scoring - Goals - Mk Scalise(2), Higgins, Duprey, Davis, Mi Scalise(2)

                           Assists - Glennon(3), Davis, Mk Scalise(2), Bansak

Faceoffs Attempted/Faceoffs Won - Davis 2/5, Glennon 2/7, Clark 1/4

Saves/Shots on Goal - Harrigan(10/16)