Bulldogs subdue Lamoille, capture lax championship
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By Chuck Clarino Staff Writer - Published: June 16, 2009
BURLINGTON — They had to wait through several thunder and lightning delays that amounted to two hours but once the game started, the Burr and Burton Bulldogs had the thunder and lightning in their offense.
The top-seeded Bulldogs scored the first six goals of the game and every time the No. 2 Lamoille Lancers made any kind of a run, BBA had an answer in rolling to a 12-6 victory and defending their Division II lacrosse crown Monday at Moulton-Winder Field.
The victory gave the Bulldogs their third lacrosse crown in four years and denied the Lancers in their debut in a championship game.
The win also salted away a school record 10th title during the academic year for Burr and Burton.
"It was kind of hard waiting through those five rain delays but we knew that we had to come out on fire," said senior attack Chris "Red" Murray, who scored the team's first goal 1:48 into play. "We hadn't seen Lamoille but we knew that they were a pretty good team, with some good attackmen and some good middies; we knew we had to come out and put a few goals in first."
Certainly, the championship game experience had something to do with BBA's comfort level. The Bulldogs looked loose during the warm-ups and it showed up quickly come game time.
BBA dominated the draws and had the edge in both ground balls and clears. The Bulldogs moved well without the ball and continually beat Lamoille defenders, especially early.
Murray tripped the scoring trigger and then Ben Brownlee scored on a drive at 10:10 and Kurt Stafford capped the first quarter, scoring converting his drive to the net at 1:29.
The second period started very much like the first, with either Trevor Pollock or Brownlee winning the draw and the Bulldog offense setting up shop in the Lamoille end.
Ben Sikes made the lead 5-0 at 9:38 of the period and then TJ Kemper rang up BBA's total to 6-0.
"Credit the seniors; we've got a core of guys, some of which have been here all four years," said BBA coach Will Mackey. "That kind of experience definitely helps."
The Lancers finally got on the board with 4:33 remaining in the second but needed a man advantage to salt away the first goal, by Spencer Hunt from Chris Lowney.
A little over a minute later, Lamoille found the range again and this time it was Hunt setting up Tyler Donze.
But Burr and Burton had an answer and it established a pattern that would hold true the entire game.
"They had some stretches of goals but we just had to come back together, slow it down and have a long offensive possession, hopefully with a goal resulting," said Brownlee, another senior captain. "We didn't want to give them a chance to work their offense."
BBA followed up with the first two goals of the third period as Pollock and Brownlee tallied to rebuild the Bulldogs' advantage.
"They are just packed with talent and athleticism and we had a hard time coming out of the gate and matching them," said Lamoille coach John Hayden. "We made a few runs to make it exciting and give the fans something to cheer about but we just didn't have the horses to keep up with them today."
Seven different Bulldogs scored goals in this one, led by Stafford and Kemper, who each had two goals and two assists. Pollock, Sikes and Brownlee chipped in two goals each, while Murray added a goal and three assists and Matt Rosenthal scored a single goal.
One of the big stories of this game was BBA's senior goalie Brett Conklin, who didn't know until game time whether he would play. Conklin broke the same bone in his hand for the second time during BBA's quarterfinal win. He sat out the semifinal victory and had the splint taken off just before the game, but decided that he was ready to go and came up with one of his biggest games.
"He really played a great game," said Mackey of his goalie, who made eight saves. "It's just amazing that he was so sharp and ready to play after the layoff."
Lamoille was led by Hunt, who scored three goals and dished off an assist. Abel Warden, Mike Kolchalka and Donze scored single goals, while Lowney had two assists.
Lamoille starting goalie Nolan Hayden had six saves and freshman Riley Costello came in to make a great save and play well in the final four minutes.
BBA finished the season at 15-1 and Lamoille 17-2.
chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com
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