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CONCORD, Mass. -- Acton-Boxborough lacrosse trailed by four goals with less than six minutes to play in Thursday’s Dual County League rivalry game against Concord-Carlisle.

The Colonials attack was snuffed out for the great parts of three quarters before breaking off a string of three goals within a minute and nine second to get themselves within a goal. A-B parlayed the momentum into the game-tying goal, scored by T.J. Kelly with 2:34 remaining in regulation. After playing through one overtime period, Scott Rogers (2G, 1 A) made it a happy bus ride home, scoring the game-winner at the 3:14 mark of overtime No. 2.

As for the sudden change in the Colonials’ attack? A-B head coach Pat Ammendolia swears he had nothing to do with it.

“This is word for word,” Ammendolia said, emphatically gesturing with his hands. “I told them that I’m not good enough a coach to get them out of it [the deficit]. Fact, that’s verbatim.”

There was no magic wand that cured all of the Colonials’ ill from the first half. Instead, A-B (9-1) began doing the little things. The decided ground ball advantage the Patriots (5-5) enjoyed in the first half diminished in the fourth. Colonials face-off extraordinaire Joe Cormier won draws – directly or indirectly – setting up their string of three-straight goals from 5:16 to 4:07.

And then, there was the matter of patience on the attack.

“All season, we’ve been averaging pretty high in terms of scoring,” Rogers said. “We were shut down pretty much the whole game and we kept forcing plays, trying to do everything ourselves. We just needed to play as a team and move the ball around, dodge, throw it back, re-dodge.”

MASTER OF THE X
Cormier had as big a hand as any in the Colonials’ comeback with a key stretch of five straight face-off wins in the fourth quarter. It’s a performance that Ammendolia has come to expect.

“He’s excellent,” he said of Cormier. “He was great for us again today. He’s guy that we can count on and usually that’s at 75-, 80-percent [won faceoffs] each game. He’s meticulous and he’s really technical.

“But he’s a hell of a complete player, not just a face-off guy.”

PLAYING TO PACE
C-C did its best to control the pace of the game throughout the first half. Although the Colonials attack didn’t do themselves any favors at times, the Patriots pressed the issue and won nearly every ground ball that was to be had behind long-stick midfielder Nick Brozowski, who scooped up five ground balls in the first half alone.

Cognizant of C-C’s willingness to grind down a high-flying A-B attack, which had scored 102 goals in nine games entering Thursday’s action, the Colonials sought to respond with a bit of the same.

“They like to hold the ball on offense,” Rogers said of C-C. “So we wanted to counter and get it the offensive zone and hold it. Again, we really weren’t doing that. We were forcing plays, taking shots that weren’t there.”

WESTFORD, Mass. -- With so many league matchups taking place early in the season, Acton-Boxborough knew it had to make a statement against Westford Academy to avoid losing pace in the Dual County League Large race.

The Colonials did exactly that, dominating in all phases of the game en route to an 18-13 victory over the No. 4 Grey Ghosts at Westford Academy.

Ten different players found the back of the cage for A-B (4-1 overall, 1-1 DCL), topped by Scott Rogers (four goals, two assists) and J.T. Kelly (four goals, one helper). Trevor Konenenko added a hat trick while Hunter Arnold and Brian Picca each contributed a goal and two assists.

On defense, poles Ian Maxwell, Gabe Cormier, Austin Wolf and James Gnall, along with LSM Kevin Brogie, were outstanding in front of goalie Rick Kronenwett.

"We're very athletic," said A-B head coach Pat Ammendolia. "Last year I think we had some great lacrosse players. This year, we have some good lacrosse players but I think we've got great athletes on this team. We can run and that's definitely a strength of ours, team speed. That's what we like to do, get out there and try to run by people."

In order to do that, the Colonials needed to have possessions and the trio of Joe Cormier, Gabe Cormier and Josh Bucens took care of that. Joe Cormier was particularly dominant as the main draw-taker and A-B won all eight faces in the opening quarter and the offense staked the team to a 6-1 lead.

The Colonials would extend that lead to as many as nine goals in the second as Joe Cormier, Arnold, Konenenko, Bryan Sweeney, Rogers, and Kelly all scored during a 6-1 spurt. Loyola-bound attackman Jay Drapeau (four goals, assist) had the first tally of the frame for Westford (4-1, 1-1) and added two more before the half to make it a 12-5 game.

"We isolated their shorties up top, we ran our system and dodged up top," Rogers said of the offensive explosion. "Their slides were a little late and we just put it to them, put the ball in the back of the net. When we ran down the alleys, their slide would come from the crease. J.T. [Kelly] did a good job of popping up to the high crease and getting a couple looks. I got both my assists to him."

Acton-Boxborough pushed the lead back up to nine in the third (15-6) as Rogers, Max Emond and Kelly all connected before Josh Sawyer (four goals, assist) slowed the run. The Colonials slowed the pace in the fourth, trading goals to start the frame with Joey Biggins getting the final score for an 18-9 lead with 5:05 left. The Grey Ghosts popped in four in a row to close it out.

"I think I underestimated their athleticism a little bit," admitted Westford coach Matt Tholander. "I knew they had good, individual, on-ball defenders but I didn't realize that the faceoff circle was going to be a huge problem for us. Faceoffs and ground balls were the big differences in the game."

"Our unsettled defense has been better this year and we obviously got caught up a little bit there with our matchups," he continued. "We knew defensively, we weren't ready at the beginning of the year and we're a long way from where we need to be but like I said to the kids, I've been on this side of it multiple times with A-B where they bum-rush us and next time around, it always seems to work out that you always get another shot at them."

ACTON, Mass. --- The Dual County League Large awarded tri-champions last year as Westford Academy, Lincoln-Sudbury and Acton-Boxborough all shared the honor at the top. This year may prove to be the much of the same as A-B defeated L-S 15-9 on Thursday night to lock the three teams up at the top once again in one of the most completive leagues in Massachusetts.

A-B (11-3) led 5-4 at the half in a back and forth beginning that featured strong goalie play from L-S senior Dan Shaughnessy and A-B junior Rick Kronnenwett.

With under a minute to go in the half Kronnenwett made two big saves for the Colonials on a scoring bid from L-S junior midfielder Dan Delaney. The saves helped preserve the lead and momentum for A-B at the half.

“Rick has been great,” said Acton-Boxborough head coach Pat Ammendolia. “We inserted him midway through the year and he has really stepped up. His legs and feet are swollen with ball marks from saves and he has been just doing a great job for us.”

A-B midfielder Joe Cormier (two goals, assist) won the opening face-off of the second half and teammate Kyle Soroka (three goals, three assists) beat his man in transition and scored the opening goal at the 11:26 mark to give the Colonials a two goal lead. The 6-4 lead was the largest lead of the game to date for either team.

Soroka would come back and score again at the 8:48 mark in the third, followed by a tally from Cormier to give A-B an 8-4 lead midway through the third quarter.

L-S would battle back and score two man-up goals to cut the deficit to 8-6 but it would be all A-B from there on out in the third as they would take an 11-7 to the final quarter.

“It was infectious,” Ammendolia said. “One guy will make a great play and then another guy will make a great play and it snowballs. I thought we played a little timid in the first half but we came out and scored one right away and I thought that broke our hesitance.”

A-B would control the possessions and add four more goals in the final quarter to seal the win and create balanced chaos at the top of the DCL Large once again this season.

Despite the loss L-S (9-5) remains one of the most dangerous teams in Division 1 as they boast one of the state’s top young, explosive rosters.

Delaney led the Warriors in scoring on the night as the Fairfield commit scored two goals to go along with one assist. Sophomore midfielder Greg Roder also added two goals for L-S in the loss.

McKelvie Scores: Tyler McKelvie’s six goals earned the senior one of three game balls presented by Coach Ammendolia at the end of the game. (The other two went to Soroka and Kronnenwett ).

McKelvie proved that he did not need much room on the evening to get his shot off and also proved efficient burying six goals with three coming in each half.

“We were fired up to play them,” said McKelvie. “We lost in overtime the first time and clearing killed us. This time we cleaned it up and just did our jobs.”

The senior sniper also scored six goals in A-B’s 19-9 win over Westford Academy last week and leads the Colonials in scoring with 46 goals and 10 assists on the season.

Improved Clearing: The knock on A-B this season has been their struggle in the clearing game. L-S really took advantage of A-B in that department when the two teams met at the beginning of the season in a 14-13 overtime win for the Warriors.

Despite the occasional lapse on Thursday night it is evident that A-B has definitely improved their clearing game and looked fast in transition and composed off of saves.

“I would not say that we clear every day at practice but we do on most days,” Ammendolia explained. “They have been getting better and it is a credit to the kids. I just guide them and it all comes with their hard work at practice.”

Right Time to Be Hot: A-B has now won 10 out of their last 11 games after starting the season 1-2. They have defeated ESPN Boston Top 25 teams Weston, Westford Academy and L-S soundly over the past week and only lost to No. 2 ranked Concord-Carlisle by one goal, 8-7, at the end of the game.

“I think we are a lot more calm and comfortable with the offense and with our off hands,” McKelvie said. “It is nice to just go out there and play.”

SUDBURY, Mass. – Mired in a dogfight with Dual County League rival Acton-Boxborough Tuesday, No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury had an opportunity to send the Colonials home in regulation. With possession on the wing, coming out of a timeout, the Warriors worked a set play, only to see A-B longstick Mike Duggan block a shot as time ran out in the fourth quarter.

The teams were tied, 13-13.

Chris Giorgio made sure there wouldn’t be a repeat scenario in the overtime period, notching his second goal of the game off a set play and lifting the Warriors to a win in their season opener.

“It was a great job by the defense, getting the ball away from them and setting up our offense,” said the junior, who’s moved up from the defensive midfield this season. “[Coach Brian Vona] told us to hold the ball and not push it too hard, be safe, possess the ball and then if you find a chance, go for it.”

The fact remained that No. 11 A-B (1-1) was fortunate merely to stay in the game after L-S (1-0) used a four-goal second quarter to take a 9-5 lead to the half.

In the third, the momentum swung swiftly in the opposite direction though, as the Colonials ripped off four straight goals in a six-minute period of the third to tie the game, 10-10.

“They were amazing, they were not stopping at all,” Giorgio said of A-B’s comeback effort. “They were getting ground balls, they were more physical than us in the third quarter and I think that’s what basically got them through it.”

The Colonials held two separate leads in the fourth quarter, thanks to three goals in the period by Tyler McKelvie (5 G). L-S knotted the score at 13-all on Matt Hall’s fifth goal of the game, scored with 1:57 remaining.

WE ARE YOUNG, SO WE SET THE WORLD ON FIRE
The Warriors were ravaged by injuries last season, but their depth was evident in the fact that they still made the Division 1 tournament quarterfinals.

During last year’s stretch run, a good number of L-S’s underclassmen were pressed into service either earlier or perhaps relied upon more than otherwise would have been anticipated.

It might just make this year’s team all that much better in the long run.

“We have a bunch of juniors and sophomores who have really stepped up and practiced hard.”

ESPN Boston preseason All-State teamer Dan Delaney contributed a seven-point game (3 G, 4 A) Tuesday after he was called upon to take a larger role in the offense last year as a sophomore. He’s part of a deep and talented junior class this year, that’s a big reason why the Warriors started the season at the No. 2 position in our poll.

“Dan Delaney was a beast for us at the end, along with Henry Guild, a junior, Matt Hall, another junior, Jordan Dow’s a junior. Those guys have come together," Vona said.

DCL A CONFERENCE TO WATCH
If Tuesday’s matchup is any indication, the DCL should be an absolute maelstrom.

In addition to the Warriors and Colonials, the DCL should be well represented in our Top 25 poll through the year and into the postseason. With a much improved Westford Academy squad coming in, in addition to perennial power Concord-Carlisle and defending Division 3 state champion Weston in the small division, expect a lot of rock ‘em, sock ‘em throughout the league schedule.

“That’s a great team that deserves a lot of respect around the state this year,” Vona said of A-B after Tuesday’s game.

The road doesn’t get any easier from here for the Colonials either, who travel to play the Grey Ghosts on Thursday, in a stretch of three straight Top 25 opponents to start the season.

“Westford’s legit, they’ve got a good midfield and a good attack, too,” A-B head coach Pat Ammendolia said. “It’s going to be another tough test.”