EASTHAM — Spurred by freshman attackman Jack Peno’s five-goal first-period outburst, the second-seeded Nauset Warriors (17-4) defeated Nashoba 16-10 to reach the Division 3 Final Four in boys lacrosse for the second consecutive year. The Warriors combined Peno’s heroics with a Logan Poulin hat trick and a turnover-creating defense to earn the right to face Falmouth for the third time this year in the semifinals. The game was scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at Barnstable High School at 6:30 p.m.
The first 6 minutes of Saturday’s game against Nashoba was played almost exclusively in Nauset’s defensive end after an early goal by Truro’s Poulin gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead. Only strong goaltending from Zach Coelho kept the Wolves from scoring more than once. The game was tied at one when Peno, the diminutive freshman, caught fire. In a span of 3 minutes and 13 seconds, he scored 5 times using an assortment of shots and dazzling footwork. This against a notoriously stingy Nashoba defense that had held entire teams to five goals or less 12 times this season.
Peno’s goals helped give the Warriors an 8-1 lead after the first period, and they kept going. His most impressive score came 4 minutes into the second quarter — a twisting display of balletic beauty, slithering through towering, crashing defenders before notching his sixth goal of the game. That gave the Warriors a 10-3 lead, marking the first time since April that Nashoba had given up double-digit goals.
“We just clicked,” said Nauset Coach Jesse Peno of his team’s offensive outburst. “We hadn’t seen man-to-man [defense] in a while, and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Nashoba belatedly switched to a zone and halted the Warriors’ scoring for a stretch that lasted into the third quarter, while Nauset’s defense held the Wolves mostly at bay. Still, it was 10-6 early in the third and the visitors were only a Jack Peno-like run from tying it up.
Instead, Peno again came through, breaking a 16-minute drought with a power play goal to increase Nauset’s lead to 5 with just over 4 minutes left in the period. The Warriors needed only 9 seconds to score again, with Poulin winning the faceoff and sprinting 40 yards before firing a rocket past Wolves goalie Chris LeBlanc.
“He’s a tough kid,” said Coach Peno, who marveled at Poulin’s intensity and willingness to do whatever he could to help the team while battling through injuries.
Nashoba could get no closer than 5 as the Warriors captured their 12th consecutive win and earned a showdown with third-seeded Falmouth for a spot in the championship game.
Before reaching the quarterfinals, Nauset had to get past a tough Hanover squad. Temperatures threatened to reach 90 last Thursday when the Warriors faced the 15th-seeded Hawks in the round of 16, but the heat didn’t seem to bother the athletes. Nauset applied pressure early with a series of aggressive shots from Sam Mayhew and Oscar Escher. Goals from Andrew Blake, Sawyer McCutchen, Logan Poulin, and Jack Peno, and 2 from Joey Berardi followed, giving the team a 6-2 lead going into the second.
Hanover (or “Hanova,” as they were called on Nauset’s scoreboard), stayed within shouting distance, even as the Warriors’ lead widened. The Hawks finally returned Nauset’s early-game pressure with a 5-goal run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters. What seemed initially like an easy win was proving to be a challenge.
But Sawyer McCutchen drew a massive cheer from the sun-baked Warriors fans with a goal following a strategic fourth-quarter timeout. Brothers Jack and Brendan Peno combined on a goal a few minutes later. Michael Flynn found the net with three and a half minutes left, followed quickly by another McCutchen tally. That was enough to ensure a 20-14 Nauset victory and a date with Nashoba.
