Mallards Sink Vikings 13-1 to Get Back to .500

BERLIN- Worcester Prep's men's varsity lacrosse team thumped visiting Cambridge, 13-1, in its home opener on Tuesday to erase any lingering doubts from a tough weekend at a holiday tournament in Baltimore last Saturday.

The Mallards opened the regular season with a resounding 16-1 win over Salisbury School last Thursday before hitting the road for an Easter holiday tournament at McDonough School in Baltimore on Saturday. Worcester dropped a pair of games in that tournament including a 15-5 loss to host McDonough, but the Mallards regrouped for an impressive win over visiting Cambridge on Tuesday.

Worcester led 3-0 after a well-played first quarter by both teams before opening the game up in the decisive second quarter. Travis Gregory got the big second quarter rolling with a goal at the 8:40 mark and Will Regan converted a perfect feed on the crease about 20 seconds later to extend the lead to 5-0 with 8:21 remaining in the second quarter.

Cambridge got on the scoreboard about halfway through the second quarter when a pair of overlapping penalties by Worcester put the Vikings in a two man-up situation. With four defenders guarding six Cambridge players in the box, the Vikings passed around the perimeter until they found a seam a got a shot past Mallard goalie Christian Coates for what would be their only goal of the game.

Worcester got that goal right back about a minute later when Gregory hit Max DiFillipo with a perfect feed right on the crease after drawing a double team. DiFillipo converted the assist and the Mallard lead was extended to 6-1 with about 4:23 remaining in the second.

Less than a minute later, Worcester scored again to make it 7-1 with 3:49 left in the first half on a goal by Justin Butler. Hank Fisher added another goal at the 2:38 mark to make it 8-1, and Regan scored the sixth and final goal of the second quarter for Worcester at the 1:37 mark in the period as the Mallards took a decisive 9-1 lead into halftime.

Regan picked up where he left off at the end of the first half with another goal at the beginning of the third quarter to extend the Worcester lead to 10-1. Greg Butler got into the act about halfway through the third quarter with his first goal of the game to push the lead to 11-1 with 6:12 remaining in the period.

DiFilippo then threaded a perfect feed on the crease to Regan, who converted the assist for his fourth goal of the game and the Mallards led 12-1. Worcester scored its final goal of the game when long-stick defender Hunter Marshall led a fast break before hitting Hank Fisher in stride in front of the Cambridge goal for a 13-1 lead. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter after both coaches cleared their benches.

The win improved Worcester's early season record to 2-2 with big wins over Salisbury School and Cambridge and the two losses in the McDonough Easter Tournament. Regan led all scorers with four goals, while Gregory scored two goals and dished out four assists. DiFillipo scored two goals and added two assists, while Christian Payne scored a goal and chipped in two assists and Hank Fisher had a goal and two assists.

The big win over Cambridge came at the perfect time for Worcester after the tournament in Baltimore last Saturday. Worcester scheduled a handful of games each year against some of the top teams in the Baltimore area as a sort of barometer for how the program is developing and this year was no different.

Worcester lost to host McDonough, 15-5, in its first game, but the score was probably not indicative of how close the game was in terms of talent on the field. McDonough got off to a fast start and led 8-0 at the half before the Mallards recovered and made it a close game for much of the second half. Gregory scored three goals, while Bunting and Butler each added single goals in the loss.

In Worcester's second game of the tournament, the Mallards fell to Radnor (Pa.), 10-4, after trailing 6-2 at the half. Payne scored three goals in the loss and Butler added a single goal. The highlight for Worcester in the tournament was the outstanding play of goalkeeper Christian Coates, who recorded 17 saves in the loss to McDonough and 14 saves in the loss to Radnor.