WALES — The numbers posted by the undefeated Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon boys lacrosse team jump off the scoreboard. The Raiders have yet to score fewer than a dozen goals in any match this spring. They’ve scored 20 goals in a game, 19 in another, and on five occasions they’ve scored 15 times or more.
Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon (7-0) added to the ledger in a 17-1 thumping of Maranacook/Winthrop/Spruce Mountain at Doucette Memorial Field. Seniors Tiger Hopkins and D’Andre Daniels generated much of the onslaught. Hopkins scored eight goals, while Daniels had two to go along with eight assists.
In all, the duo — without injured attacker Travis Caron running alongside for the time being — had a hand in 14 of the 17 goals against the Hawks.
Hard to imagine there’s more in the tank, but Hopkins says there is.
“There’s a lot of potential here,” said Hopkins, who also collected three assists. “It’ll help when Travis comes back. There’s room to grow. We’re not looking to peak right away. The biggest thing is just growth every day, every day in practice. Something I preach is just get ‘that’ percent better every day.”
The formula for success has been a simple one for Hopkins and Daniels. It boils down to familiarity.
“We’ve played together since eighth grade,” said Daniels. “We’ve played on the same attack line since eighth grade, we’ve played on the same travel teams. We had to bide our time (on varsity), but we put the work in and it’s paid off.”
Daniels anchored the team’s transition game against the Hawks, finding the right passes to either strike quickly in transition or open up the Hawks out of prolonged offensive sets.
Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon’s Lukas Bergeron shoots and scores against Maranacook/Winthrop/Spruce Mountain during a lacrosse game Tuesday at Stacen Doucette Memorial Field in Wales. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“You’ve got to look up and read the field,” Daniels said. “We all share in that. We all get it.”
Adam Hinkley added four goals, including three in a seven-goal opening quarter for the Raiders. Lukas Bergeron and Gavin Leet each chipped in with a goal, while goalie Nick Michaud made nine saves against a Hawks squad that scored 10 in a 20-10 loss to Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon five days earlier.
For Maranacook/Winthrop/Spruce Mountain (5-3), Wyatt Lyons scored the lone goal in the second quarter. Netminder Matt Fenlason made 18 saves.
Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon coach Joe Hinkley, now in his 11th season, isn’t surprised that his attackers have the ability to put up big numbers — though does admit some level of astonishment at the ease with which they’ve done so.
Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon’s Adam Hill shoots through a crowd of Maranacook/Winthrop/SPruce Mountain defenders during a lacrosse game Tuesday at Stacen Doucette Memorial Field in Wales. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“It’s game by game,” said Hinkley, who guided Oak Hill to the state title game last spring. “Tiger is always looking to set up his teammates, and D’Andre is looking for that next pass. Sometimes I think they’re too unselfish. When it comes down to it, they just want to make it back to states.”
Oak Hill now turns its preparation toward a difficult late-season stretch of the schedule. The Raiders have a full week to prepare for a trip to Class B Messalonskee next Tuesday before a May 21 showdown with North Yarmouth Academy, in what could be a preview of the Class C state final next month.
The Raiders can’t afford to relax, their captain said.
“It’s easy for us to get a bit complacent,” said Hopkins, who had hat tricks in both the first and third quarters, including the only three goals of the third period. “We’re winning, and it would be easy to just go out there and be us. But there are a lot bigger road blocks coming up.”
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