Westborough Lacrosse Beginning to Turn Things Around

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Junior Ryan Baxendale stepped up his offensive game against Groton-Dunstable.

Westborough lacrosse is right back in the hunt for a league title following a critical win over Groton-Dunstable.

This comes just after the Rangers had lost three straight games, and coach Matt Nofsinger believes his team was simply struggling to find consistency.

“When I look back on it, we were playing pretty well,” Nofsinger said. “It was just some bad quarters and mini-meltdowns here and there. And the competition was certainly very tough.”

During that three-game stretch, the Rangers played two of Central Mass’ premier teams in St. John’s School and undefeated Grafton. With Thursday’s victory over Groton-Dunstable, Westborough now sits at 4-4 on the season, but more importantly, 4 -1 in Mid-Wach A league play.

That puts the Rangers only a game back on league-leader and defending Central Mass champion Algonquin, making Tuesday’s game between the Rangers and the Tomahawks a pivotal battle.

Junior Tom Lawton has done well handling face offs, and coach Nofsinger is looking for him to become a larger part of the offense.

Slowing Things Down

To defeat a team like Algonquin, Nofsinger knows that his team cannot give away the ball, as they did frequently during their three-game losing streak.

“We’ve got to play more together, and really value the ball,” Nofsinger said. “We need longer possessions, and we’ve been doing a lot of ‘run and gun’ and missing the cage. I’d really like to slow things down a little bit, so our team identity is to be determined.”

Key Players

The Rangers have gotten exceptional play from senior attacker Dean Sudol, who is currently leading the Rangers in scoring. During its win over Groton-Dunstable, Westborough received a scoring boost from juniors Ryan Baxendale and Tom Lawton, who each scored two goals.

Lawton has also handled face offs for the Rangers, and Nofsinger would like to see the talented junior become more assertive offensively. Sophomore Mike Gallo and freshman Jake Foster are two young players that Nofsinger believes can be very good down the road, and have shown they are already capable of playing at a high level.

Back to the Top of CMass?

Westborough knew it had potential before the year started, but the three-game losing streak it endured caused it to drop from the ranks of Central Mass' best teams in many people's minds. Now, with his team's big road victory over Groton-Dunstable and pulling within one of Algonquin in the standings, Nofsinger believes his team is headed back to where it belongs.

"I am optimistic than we can continue to improve and play fundamentally sound lacrosse," Nofsinger said. "There are some really talented teams in Central Mass, and we are striving to once again be considered one of the teams in that conversation.