Lincoln-Sudbury boys’ lacrosse tops Hingham in finals of Coaches Challenge Cup

The Lincoln-Sudbury boys’ lacrosse team flexed its muscle and exacted some revenge upon Hingham, a Division 1 South power, as the top-ranked Warriors held off the second-ranked Harbormen for a 12-9 victory to claim the 2019 Coaches Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon at Winchester High.

Hingham defeated L-S, 6-4, in the semifinals of last year’s tournament, snapping the Warriors’ 58-game winning streak against Massachusetts opponents.

Attackman Matt Ward led the undefeated Warriors (7-0) with a game-high six goals and one assist. Midfielder Johnny Herlihy recorded a hat trick for L-S and notched a pair of assists. Cooper Dainton and Jake Higgins each recorded a pair of goals for Hingham (6-1), which was handed its first loss of the season.

“We just wanted to play for last year’s seniors,” said Herlihy when asked afterward about his team’s motivation. “Those seniors last year gave this game 110 percent, so it was definitely nice to have the guys come out today and put together a complete effort and get it done.”

L-S opened the game on a 3-0 run before Dainton and Charlie Egan responded with back-to-back goals to pull Hinghamwithin 3-2. The Warriors, however, closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 6-2 into the second.

“We’re starting to trust each other a lot more,” said Herlihy of his team’s offensive surge of late. “Everyone is beginning to step up and we are really beginning to mix well as a unit.

Hingham outscored L-S, 3-1, in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-5 at halftime.

“Hingham is awesome,” said Lincoln-Sudbury head coach Brian Vona. “Back and forth the entire way. Quite honestly, on some of their clears, I got outcoached, so I thought they did a tremendous job. [Hingham goalie] George Egan was lights out in cage and really made us work. I don’t think we solved them by any means, but I thought we played really good defense today and that turned out to be the difference.”

After L-S took a 9-7 lead into the fourth, Hingham tied the game, 9-9, on back-to-back goals by Jake Higgins and Jonathan Bearden with a little less than nine minutes to play. Kyle Smith fired home a goal off an ensuing face-off to reclaim the lead for the Warriors, 10-9. Ward and Herlihy talliedtwo late goals to help the Warriors seal the victory.

Foxborough 8, Norwell 6 — The Warriors earned their second straight Chowda Cup victory after a triumph over the Clippers in rainy conditions at Hanover High School.

Brendan Tully had two goals and two assists for Foxboro (5-1), which jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter before Norwell (6-1) responded with five straight to take a two-goal lead midway through the third quarter.

But Tully’s second goal served as an equalizer with less than a minute to go in the third quarter, and Pete Conley and Bobby Yerardi were able to score in the fourth to help the Warriors deal the Clippers their first loss of the season.

‘‘There’s some good teams out here,’’ Tully said. ‘‘Norwell’s a great team, they kept the energy up the whole game. I’m proud of our guys, we went down in the third quarter, they had some momentum, but I’m proud of us for putting it away and getting the Cup again.’’

Rivers 11, BB&N 8 — Seniors Chris Bucking (goal, 5 assists), Christiaan Bosse (3 goals) and freshman Nick Bell (2 goals, 2 assists) paced Rivers (8-1) on offense.

Sandwich 11, Bridgewater-Raynham 6 — CJ Wiper scored four goals in the win for the Blue Knights.

Girls’ lacrosse

Brooks 16, Rivers 11 — Isabella Miller led the way for Brooks, hitting the back of the net on four occasions.

Needham 20, Wayland 7 — Lexi Schmalz (5 goals, 3 assists), Maeve Barker (4 goals, 3 assists) and Grace Kelly (4 goals, 2 assists) starred for the fifth-ranked Rockets (5-2).