The St. Paul boys lacrosse team was 3-5 entering its April 27 home matchup with Capital Prep at McPhee Field.
The Falcons hammered the Trailblazers that day, 17-2, and that’s when they began to turn their season around. Home wins over Lewis Mills (17-13), Morgan (14-13), Bristol Co-op (14-4) and Wolcott (19-1) followed. St. Paul did what coach Chris Kennedy wanted it to do…defend its home turf. The Falcons hit the road on Monday night and dispatched Holy Cross, 14-5, to improve to 9-5 on the season.
My, how things have changed in less than a month for St. Paul. How has it happened?
“We have worked hard on improving riding, clearing and groundballs,” Kennedy said. “Both the offense and defense have gotten more consistent over the past month.”
Colin Reilly, Tyson Raymond and Sam Peruta have led St. Paul’s offensive attack. On defense, Falcon opponents have had to contend with the large and in charge Erik Suzio. Suzio “has been outstanding,” in Kennedy’s words, and his younger teammates on defense have improved as they have gained experience. In goal, Matt Walker has been solid.
Here’s some statistical proof of St. Paul’s improvement:
The Falcons have scored 14 or more goals in each of the past six games, including a season-high 19 against Wolcott. St. Paul also scored 17 twice, once against Capital Prep and once against Lewis Mills. Defensively, only Mills and Morgan scored in double digits against the Falcons. The other goal totals St. Paul has given up during the win streak read like this: 2, 4, 1, 5. That’s some stellar defense.
The Falcons have their ticket punched to the Class S state tournament, and now they look to grab a better seed. St. Paul hosts Wolcott on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. The Falcons close out the regular season on Thursday at Capital Prep at 3:30 p.m.
PHOTO CAPTION: Colin Reilly has been playing well on offense for St. Paul during its six-game winning streak. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
