Girls' Lax Nets Playoff Win Over Westford Academy

Setting the tone early, the Lexington High School girls' lacrosse team blasted out to a 4-0 lead in the first four minutes of yesterday's playoff game against Westford Academy, and kept at least a four-goal cushion for the remainder of the game, winning 19-10.

Coach Kerry Richmond called the first five minutes of the game the best performance she's seen out of her team all season.

"I thought it was a great game," she said. "It's the best first five-minute stretch of a game they've played all season."

The Minutemen, who entered the first round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) tournament yesterday with a 14-5-1 regular-season record and an eighth seed, took care of ninth-seeded Westford by winning ground balls and working goals in off quick transitions.

"We know we're a pretty fast team," Richmond said. "We want to get it out of our end as quickly as we can."

Lexington started its scoring barrage just 14 seconds into the game, when senior attack wing Emily Edgerly fired a shot past Westford goalie Rachel Socolow. Two minutes later, junior third-home Meghan McNabb got back-to-back goals, followed by one from first-home Amanda Bouchard, also a junior.

Westford got on the board 4:14 into the game, when center Rachel Secrist scored her first goal in what would be a double hat-trick day for the junior at the Lincoln Park fields.

Less than a minute later, Lexington center Kyleigh Williams scored her first of three goals as she sliced through a crowd in front of the net and bounced a shot into the back of the net.

Westford made it a 6-2 game with a goal by senior Kelsey Stafstrom, scored after she took a penalty from the center hash mark after a shooting-space call.

Lexington went on to score seven unanswered goals in the next nine minutes, including one from senior SooHee Yoon, who put away a rebounded at the 9:07 mark, and one from Williams who cradling left pivoted right and put a low, fast shot into the back of the net 12:04 in.

In the final seven minutes of the half, Westford edged back with six goals of its own, sparked by freshman Bailey Mongillo who put back a rebounded shot that dinged off the left goal post. Secrist followed with four goals, to pull Westford within six to trail at the half 13-7.

Lexington maintained its lead in the second half, with goals by McNabb, Edgerly, junior Bridget Everett, and Williams, while goalie Katie Needham, a senior, held Westford to three goals.

McNabb scored the final Lexington goal of the game with 14:39 remaining, after taking a pass from senior defender Mackenzie Farrell after stopped play in the backfield. McNabb sprinted down the left side of the field, circled behind the goal and fired a shot past Westford's Socolow.

Lexington celebrated a 19-10 win when the final buzzer sounded.

Richmond said she had been expecting a tough game against Westford, and Lexington was able to stay on top by stringing passes together, recognizing when to slow the tempo of the game and working as a team unit.

The Minutemen advance to the quarterfinals and will face a tough Framingham squad, which beat Lowell 17-7 in the first round and entered the playoffs with an 18-1-1 record and ranked second in the state.

Richmond said the advice she'll give her players is to mimic their great play against Westford, and to attack host Framingham quickly in Friday's 4 p.m. game.

"Go out and attack, we've got nothing to lose," Richmond said. "We take this game and we go with it. They played great today."