Gavin Lynch, Peter DeBusschere and Connor Kuttin score as Chaminade boys lacrosse nets win over Ward Melville

With a four-goal lead, the emphasis in Chaminade’s halftime huddle was getting the first punch of the second half.

The Flyers came out and put together a three-punch combo.

Gavin Lynch, Peter DeBusschere and Connor Kuttin each scored a goal in the first 1:45 of the third quarter to help visiting Chaminade to a 13-8 win over Ward Melville in its non-league boys lacrosse opener Saturday afternoon.

John Balsamo assisted Lynch’s goal and Lynch assisted Kuttin, whose goal gave the Flyers a 12-5 lead with 10:15 left in the third. Kuttin and DeBusschere are Chaminade’s only offensive players who played offense last season.

“We have a lot of new players on offense, so it was a concern whether or not we would be able to generate enough goals, but I thought we did a really good job today against a great team,” Chaminade coach Jack Moran said.

Kuttin got Chaminade off to a fast start, scoring the first two goals of the game in the first three minutes. A goal by John Tully with 2:44 left in the first quarter gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead, but Ward Melville answered right back.

Liam Banks and Stephen Rosano each scored a goal in the following 33 seconds to bring the Patriots within one, but Balsamo and Tully each found the back of the net to give Chaminade a 6-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We’ve got to get better at playing a full four quarters,” said Kuttin, a junior. “Sometimes, we come out hot and then we settle down and we don’t keep the same tempo we want to play.”

The Flyers’ desired tempo is in their name — they want to fly. Speed and crisp ball movement in front of the net is the key to Chaminade’s success. Eight of the Flyers’ goals were assisted.

“We’re very unselfish and we have great team speed, so we try to utilize that speed in our offensive sets,” Moran said. “We want to play fast. We want to press on defense, win the groundball war and get up and down the field and find the open guy.”

Kuttin and Lynch each had three goals and two assists, James Gillis had two goals and two assists and Tully had two goals and an assist. Ward Melville was led by Stephen Rosano, who had three goals and an assist. Zach Brittman added a goal and two assists and Brody Morgan had two goals and one assist.

After losing to St. Anthony’s in the state CHSAA Class AAA final last season, Chaminade is on a mission to knock the Friars off their throne. St. Anthony’s has won four straight state titles.

“Everyone wants to change that narrative. We want to be on top of the league this year,” said Lynch, a junior.

Added Kuttin, “Since we lost last year, we wanted to come back and make this our year. We’re excited to show everyone how hard we’ve been working.”