After a season lost to injury, Joe Nardella returned to box lacrosse and showed he hadn’t missed a beat, corralling 18 loose balls and adding two goals, an assist and two caused turnovers to lead Bullseye to a 14-6 win over the Minutemen in the team’s Boston Box Lacrosse League season debut.
In the first game on Oct. 16 at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Greg Rogowski and Marty Bowes scored four goals each, and Josh Graver added a hat trick to lead the Blazers to a convincing 13-7 victory over PrimeTime in a battle of the two teams that won their games during Week 1 of the league’s fall-winter season.
The Blazers opened each half with a 3-0 run to first take control and then expand it, before riding their vaunted defense and 28 saves from goalie Joe Evans to the victory. Rogowski added three assists and Bowes picked up two, James Fahey and Kevin Murphy both had two helpers each and Kyle Baker added a multi-point night for the defending champs. Henry Archie, Nik Schuler and Spencer Low led PrimeTime with two goals each, with Archie adding three assists on the night. Cam Egan and Alex Bunick also had multi-point nights for PrimeTime, which fell to 1-1 with the loss.
In the nightcap of this week in the Boston Box Lacrosse League, Bullseye used a balanced attack and a hyper-aggressive defense in racing out to a 5-0 lead and locking down the Minutemen. Bullseye generated 22 caused turnovers – over three times as many as the Minutemen – and had 57 loose balls, compared to 42 for the Minutemen to fuel a relentless offense. Nardella – who led the BBLL in loose balls and had more than twice as many as his nearest competitor during the 2016-17 season – was better-than-ever in his return, but he had plenty of help. Will Walker scored three goals, Bo Woods added five points, John Uppgren, Chris Breiner and Adam Fishman all added multi-point nights for Bullseye, which also got four caused turnovers and seven loosies from Jack Korzelius, who was making his BBLL debut.
Ryan Murphy’s two-goal, two-assist night led the way for the Minutemen, who got two goals from forward Nick Black in his BBLL debut. Goalie Andrew Forrester made 36 saves on the night.
The wins set up an early-season battle for first place as the Blazers and Bullseye square off in the first of three regular-season meetings in the nightcap on Oct. 23. In the opener, either the MegaWhales or the Minutemen will claim their first win of the season in a match-up that could have playoff-seeding implications down the line.
The Boston Box Lacrosse League, a member of US Indoor Lacrosse, plays at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham. For stats, standings and more information on the league, go to BostonBoxLax.com. The league posts announcements and commentary on Twitter and can be followed @BostonBoxLax.
South Shore Sports Center is located at 55 Recreation Park Drive in Hingham; fans and friends can watch games from the arena seating or at the Skybox Lounge, where food and drinks are served. Information is available at southshoresportscenter.com.
Editor’s Note: For last week’s results in the BBLL, click here.
