BERLIN- Last Saturday’s backyard brawl between the Worcester Prep and Stephen Decatur boys’ varsity lacrosse teams produced another classic in the long-standing rivalry with the Mallards holding off a late charge by the Seahawks to win, 11-9, before a big bipartisan crowd.
It’s always special when crosstown rivals Decatur and Worcester Prep face off in lacrosse and this year’s contest was no different. The Seahawks and Mallards faced each other last Saturday on Easter weekend at Worcester Prep in front of a big bipartisan crowd and the game certainly lived up hype.
Worcester took an early 3-1 lead in the first quarter, but Decatur’s Tucker Cordial scored with just nine seconds left in the period to cut the lead to 3-2. The scored remained 3-2 through much of the second quarter until Worcester’s Patrick Petrera stole a pass deep in Decatur’s defensive end and converted the empty net goal to extend the lead to 4-2.
Decatur’s long-stick middie Tyler Kaiser scooped up a ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and went straight down the middle to score a goal and cut the lead to 4-3 with 1:49 remaining in the second. Worcester Prep’s Reid Carey then cranked a laser from the top of the box with nine seconds left and the Mallards took a 5-3 lead into halftime.
Decatur’s Collin Eichenberger is swarmed by the Worcester defense as he takes a shot from the crease during the third quarter of last Saturday’s rivalry game. The Mallards edged the Seahawks, 11-9.
Photo by Shawn Soper
Again, the score remained the same through a long stretch in the third before Petrera found Trent Marshall open on the crease to give Worcester a 6-3 lead. It appeared Worcester was starting to get a little separation, but Decatur came roaring back. Charlie Coates scored with 22 seconds left in the third to cut the lead to 6-4. Chase Parker then scored after the ensuing faceoff to cut the lead to 6-5.
With just over minutes remaining in the fourth, Decatur’s Collin Eichelberger scored a goal to tie the game at 6-6 and the Seahawks were right back in it with a lot of time left. Petrera stopped Decatur’s three-goal run with a goal in an unsettled situation in front of the Seahawks’ net to put the Mallards back in front, 7-6. Worcester then pulled away again from the Seahawks with a run of its own, largely on the back of prolific scorer Tucker Brown.
Brown scored with 9:24 remaining to extend the lead to 8-6 and added another goal a little over a minute later to push it to 9-6. Finally, Brown converted a fast-break goal for his third score in about four minutes to push the lead to 10-6.
There was no quit in the Seahawks who continued to battle back. Parker scored with 5:43 remaining to cut the lead to 10-7. Brown answered with a laser from the top of the box to push Worcester’s lead back to 11-7. Decatur’s Spencer Sharp scored with three minutes left to cut the lead to 11-8 and Parker Wheeler added another goal less than a minute later to cut the lead to 11-9. Decatur got a few decent scoring chances late, but the Mallards held on for the 11-9 win.
