Portsmouth boys lacrosse cruises in win over rival Middletown
Unlike a season ago, the Patriots made sure there was no drama in their matches with the Aquidneck Island rival Islanders.
MIDDLETOWN – There won’t be a need for a playoff victory to make up for a regular-season sweep this time. Portsmouth made sure of that Friday, May 8, against rival Middletown. The Patriots were on the wrong end twice against the Islanders last spring before solving them in late May on the way to the Division II boys lacrosse title round.
There was no such mystery on this occasion under the lights at Gaudet Field. Rafe Dionne and Teddy Gersen were sharp in attack from the opening faceoff as Portsmouth zipped to a 10-3 win over Middletown. Dionne collected six goals and Gersen added a hat trick to go along with an assist on a Luke Brandariz goal.
The Patriots needed less than three minutes to take the lead for good, peppering Islanders keeper Corey Chiodo with early shots and eventually building a comfortable cushion. “We really wanted to beat them,” Dionne said. “We knocked them out of the playoffs last year – they beat us twice before that.
So we really came out here with extra drive today to give it to them. ” Dionne rattled off four straight to begin his night and Gersen struck twice to make it a 6-2 game into the break. Dionne fired home two more in the third quarter as Portsmouth stretched it to a five-goal advantage that was never threatened.