Oliver Ames Boys Lacrosse Nearly Pulls Off Upset Against Undefeated Canton

The OA varsity boys lacrosse team only has two wins this season but you wouldn't know it watching them play undefeated Canton Wednesday afternoon.

The boys lost to Canton, 3-2, holding the Bulldogs to their lowest goal total of the season.

“I call it a win for us. I thought we played exceptionally well. We knew Canton was undefeated. They’re right on top of the league,” said OA head coach Fran Yung. “I thought today we proved that we can run with some of the best teams in the league.”

The Tigers scored first in the first quarter before giving up two straight goals before the end of the first half.

Both teams battled hard in the third quarter but neither could score and Canton went into the fourth leading 2-1.

Senior Captain Cory McLaughlin tied the game, 2-2, with 7:46 to go in the game.

JC Marcone broke the tie for Canton putting them up, 3-2, with 4:32 to go.

Bulldog Pat Ward led the game with two goals.

“Pat didn’t have his best game," said Canton head coach Bill Bendell. “But he’s so clutch. He’s one of the best offensive players in the league. They were hard to come by, their goalie played well.”

OA had several chances in the fourth quarter to tie the game again but were unable to take advantage.

“The OA-Canton games are always great games,” Bendell said. “We started off slowly in the game and I think it took us a while to figure out this is a good team.”

Oliver Ames is now 2-12 on the season with four games left.

“We have to work on scoring and that kind of thing but I thought as a whole we played very well starting from the goalie right up to our attack,” said Yung. “If we play the way we played today I’m hoping that we can finish it out with four wins.”