Staples started slow, finished fast, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIAC Class L boys lacrosse tournament with a resounding 12-0 win over Newington Thursday at Staples.
The top-seeded Wreckers (17-1) will host No. 9 Simsbury Saturday at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals. Simsbury advanced Thursday with a 9-8 victory over Trumbull. Charlie Ross had two goals and four assists for Staples, while Jeff Kelly and Nate Greenberg had three goals apiece.
"It was a hard win,'' Staples coach Paul McNulty said. "Newington played tough. I told them they had to play better in the fourth quarter and they did." Staples led 2-0 after one quarter, 4-0 at halftime and 5-0 after three quarters. The Wreckers blew it open in the final quarter, getting two goals in the first minute by Ross and Keith Gelman. Kip Orban, Brendan Waiter and Jake Felmet had the other Staples goals.
While the offense took a while to get untracked, Staples clamped down defensively. Newington mustered few quality scoring chances and Staples registered its first shutout of the year. The victory was only the second time Staples has won a state tournament game.
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