June 11, 2023 – Story and photos by Joshua Ross
For the past two years, all roads for the Hingham boys lacrosse team seemed to lead to this game. A rematch of the 2021 state semi-finals where the then top ranked Panthers beat 4th ranked Harbormen 15-7. Senior captain Charlie Packard has been waiting two years to avenge that loss.
“A lot guys were on this team my sophomore year when they knocked us out of the tournament,” explained Packard. “That was kind of all the motivation we needed. We talked about it yesterday in our team meeting. We watched some of the film. We knew they were going to bring the same energy, same exact game plan, so we knew we needed to match that and even bring a little bit more. We were able to do that today.”
Franklin came into the game as the top scoring team in the tournament. Their defense is outstanding and their face-off specialist is lightning fast. So it was somewhat of a surprise that Hingham held them scoreless in the first quarter. Packard scored the only goal of the first frame for either team. A big part of that was junior Nate Hoffman in net for Hingham. He made two quick saves in the first few minutes that seemed to settle him, and the team down.
Things changed quickly in the second quarter as the Panthers scored two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead. They added a third later in the quarter. The Harbormen got one back from senior Henry Woodyatt with just over 5 minutes to go. They eventually tied up the game with :22 seconds left when the defense caused a turnover and senior captain Joe Hennessey dove in front of the net and tucked the ball in behind the keeper.
Defense and goaltending was the story of the first half.
“I think you saw it out on the field,” Hoffman said when asked about the defense playing front of him. “Those shots are coming from the outside, which is exactly what I want to see. It’s just a great group of guys. We’ve been playing together all year. They’re great.”
The third quarter started much like the second with Franklin scoring a quick one to take the lead. But Hingham came right back and tied it up with junior Michael Garrity’s goal. Senior Connor Lasch added another one to give Hingham the lead 5-4. Garrity added one before before the end of the quarter. Packard pushed the lead to 3 early in the fourth, but the Panther’s got two quick ones to cut the lead back down to one. Woodyatt added an insurance goal and Lasch put it away with his second with just under 2 minutes to play. Hoffman made some big saves late as Franklin was trying to get back in it, but couldn’t break through.
“I couldn’t have asked anything more from these guys,” head coach John Todd said after the game. “They believed in our game plan. They believed in themselves and that’s why we play the schedule that we play, to get to days like this where you’re going to need four quarters of lacrosse to come out on top.”
While Todd credits Franklin’s defense for many of Hingham’s extended possessions, it doesn’t take a lax expert to figure out that if you limit the amount of times the Panthers get the ball, they won’t be able to score the 15-20 goals a game they usually put up.
“Some of that is them,” explained Todd. “They’re playing so aggressive, it was hard to get the ball inside. But our looks, when they came, where from the inside. We weren’t necessary taking the ‘air of the ball’ for more than one or two or three times, obviously other than the end, but during the game maybe one or two times where we were slowing it down for a second (or a minute or two or three). But overall, I think they maybe made it seem like that because we had longer possessions because of their defense.”
While Todd and his team can prepare for all the different scenarios on the field, one of the biggest surprises was the crowd. Not only did Hingham’s Red Army travel, but they made it seem like a home game. On the rare occasion the Franklin fans began to cheer, they were quickly over powered by the frenzied army. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by the coaches or the team.
“You got to love it. You can beat it,” Todd said smiling when asked. “This is why you play for your home town. Because people show up and they support you and that’s what it’s all about because you don’t get that feeling anywhere else.”
With this game now behind them, they now prepare to face top-seed St. John’s Prep on Tuesday at 4:30pm in Weston. This will be a rematch of a game earlier this year where that Harbormen came up short 12-9 in Danvers. This time, it will be on a neutral site with much more at stake.
When asked what they will be expecting in the rematch, Packard quickly says “firepower.”
“They got everything,” he goes onto say. “Shooters, face-off guy, defense is strong. We know they can bring everything, but we got a few days to rest up to get ready for them. We know we can match up just as easily.”
