Mariners Sunk in Second Half by Smithfield

SMITHFIELD – A competitive game at the half turned into a romp by the fourth quarter, as the Sentinels showed why they're undefeated in Division III boys' lacrosse with a 14-5 win against the Narragansett Mariners.

As the intensity and physicality of the game increased by quarter, the Mariners couldn't match the Sentinels, picking up several penalties. The Mariners led 4-3 with 7:01 remaining in the second, but the Sentinels scored 11 of the next 12 goals, and 10 straight, to finish the game.

Narragansett head coach Mark Chafee said the inexperience of his team finally caught up with them against an experienced Sentinels' squad.

“To their credit, they [Smithfield] turned it on and played better,” Chafee said.

He added that his team once again struggled with penalties, and because they spent so much time on defense, quickly got fatigued.

“Once the penalties started it was all downhill,” he said. “We were on defense too much and got tired … We only had two to three minutes of possession in the second quarter.”

The two teams traded the lead in the first two quarters. The Mariners struck first, with an unassisted goal by Matt McGreen 1:07 into the game. However, Smithfield scored the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead.

The game got intensely physical starting in the second. The signature play came on a breakaway by Henry McGreen. Instead of playing the pass conservatively, Smithfield goalkeeper and senior Kevin Reall came out of the crease and leveled McGreen with a check as he turned toward the goal.

McGreen came off his feet, and play was stopped for about a minute as officials checked his health. He checked back in later in the game.

However, the physical play lingered, with Smithfield getting the better of Narragansett thanks to superior size and avoiding penalties. As the disparity on the scoreboard increased, the Mariners picked up several slashing, crosscheck and misconduct penalties.

“We're a young team, age-wise and lacrosse-wise, and we couldn't keep it together,” Chafee said.

Despite the lopsided end of the season, Chafee said he was happy to see the direction the program was headed in.

“You need to go through some experience like this first,” he said. “It should be fun the next couple of years … The first couple days at practice, I didn't think we'd win more than a game.”

The Mariners finished the year at 8-9 overall, and 7-5 in Division III play. They will lose senior captain and leading goal scorer Harry Holland. He plans to prep next year with an eye toward playing college lacrosse in the future.