VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: Shrewsbury edges Doherty in D3 Central Semis

Video by Matt Siegel (@SportVideoMA)

Worcester, Mass. - Saturday night's Division 3 Central semifinal between Shrewsbury and Doherty was not for the faint of heart, but in the end it was the visiting Colonials outlasting Doherty 35-34 at Worcester's Foley Stadium.

Shrewsbury advances to face cross-town rival St. John's (Shrewsbury) in the D3 Central finals next week, with a trip to the state semifinals on the line. But, for now, enjoy our Matt Siegel's video highlights of the Colonials and the Highlanders, available below.

RECAP & PHOTOS: St. John's Wins Playoff Slugfest against Cross-Town Rival Shrewsbury

Story and Photos by Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Ed. Note- Continue below for even more photos of the Pioneers and the Colonials' playoff classic. Note that you can click any image to enlarge. 

Worcester, Mass. - Rivalry is defined as “competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.”

St. John’s vs Shrewsbury is certainly that, plus a little extra pushing and shoving. Each time these cross-town rivals meet in the playoffs, they put on a great display of lacrosse at the highest level Shrewsbury, MA has to offer. Thursday, the Pioneers got the better of the Colonials, winning their Division 2 Central/West playoff game 5-4 at Assumption College.

RECAP & PHOTOS: Shrewsbury Holds off Tantasqua to Advance in D2 Central/West

Photos and Story by Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Ed. Note- Continue to the bottom of this story for even more actions shots from Shrewsbury and Tantasqua's playoff clash. Also note that you can click any image in this story to enlarge, and launch a slideshow.

Worcester, Mass. - The Shrewsbury Colonials beat the Tantasqua Warriors, 11-7, Tuesday night at Assumption College in what was a great taste of what Central Mass playoff lacrosse has to offer.

Tantasqua’s Tom Muir came into the game with 46 goals and 24 assists on the year, and his impact would be seen early as he started the scoring with back-to-back goals to put the Warriors up 2-0. Shrewsbury’s Mason Kohn then matched him with back-to back goals to tie the game up. The score at the end of the first quarter was 2-2.

RECAP & PHOTOS: Shrewsbury Keeps Rolling, downs Rival Algonquin

Story and Photos by Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Ed. Note- Continue below for a full gallery from today's big rivalry game. Click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Shrewsbury, Mass. - There's no better time to play your best lacrosse than when the tournament is near, and Shrewsbury seems to be peaking at just the right time. The Colonials continued their late season roll Monday, defeating Mid-Wach A rival Algonquin 13-7 for the fifth straight win as we enter the final full week of the regular season.

Shrewsbury Continues Tournament Push against rival Westboro

Photo by Sydney LaQue. Click here for a full gallery of the game.

By Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Shrewsbury, Mass. - With just seven games left on their schedule and 4 wins needed to get into the district playoffs, the Shrewsbury Colonials knew a win Tuesday was very important.

Colonial junior attackman Cole Russo knew that especially, and his team delivered with a 12-4 victory over Mid-Wach A rival Westboro.

PHOTO GALLERY: Shrewsbury Lacrosse defeats Westboro

Photos by Sydney LaQue (@SydneyLaque)

Shrewsbury, Mass. - Shrewsbury defeated Mid-Wach A rival Westboro Tuesday afternoon. We will have a full recap of that game later, but for now, check out these shots by our Sydney LaQue.

Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

RECAP AND PHOTOS: Shrewsbury gets Possessive against Grafton

Mason Kohn controlled possession for Shrewsbury all day, winning 18 of 19 faceoffs against Grafton.

Story by Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Photos by Sydney LaQue (@SydneyLaque)

Ed. Note: Continue below for a photo gallery from the Colonials' big win over the Indians. Click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Mason Kohn has controlled the faceoff X for the Shrewsbury Colonials all season, and Wednesday was no different, as Kohn helped the Colonials push past Grafton, 13-6, with his dominant performance at the X.

Kohn won 18-19 faceoffs, which helped the Colonials keep possession for a very high percentage of the game. He started off the game with a faceoff win, which led to a long possession for Shrewsbury and eventual Alex Cashman goal. Cole Russo followed that up with one of his own to make the score 2-0.

“Mason on the faceoff draws is huge” said Shrewsbury senior captain Chris Campbell. “It’s make it take it for us, we know if there’s a man down and they score we will get the ball back to try and get another goal. The kid’s a stud, he’s a tremendous leader, and he’s definitely going to play at the next level somewhere. We’re really lucky to have him."

Shrewsbury Head Coach Nate Skermont feels that Kohn “is a game changer at X”. “We respect the heck out of Grafton and what their program has accomplished so we know that being able to get more possessions than them would put us in a position to be successful.”

Grafton’s Jake McCue followed with a nifty goal of his own to get within one of the Colonials, but it wasn’t long until Chris Campbell caused a turnover for the Colonials, led a fast break, then fed to Kohn for his first goal of the day. Score 3-1 Colonials at the end of the first.

Grafton started the scoring in the second when Johnny Malloy found the back of the net off a rip from the top of the box. Campbell was flagged on the play, so Grafton was on man up, but just seconds into the penalty, Shrewsbury drew a penalty and then killed the clock, and they were now on a man up.

Senior Kyle Spagnuolo (1G, 2A) took advantage for the Colonials as he found the back of the cage, followed by Cashman with his second, and two straight goals from Alec Buduo (2G 4A). This pushed the score to 7-2 Colonials.

Steve Rotatori added his first to bring the score to 7-3 Colonials. Mason Kohn added his second, and then Rotatori scored his second as time expired in the second quarter to make the score at the half 8-4 Shrewsbury.

The Colonials outscored Grafton 5-2 in the second half, with goals coming from Russo (3G, 2A), Jackson Lane (1G), Kohn (3G, 1A, and Cashman (3G).

Offensively, the Colonials were able to get on the board early and never turn back.

Kohn said “we scored a couple quick goals early”, and was “just excited to be able to put up 13 (goals) and get a big win today.”

Defensively, the Colonials held Grafton to just 15 shots today. Shrewsbury goalie Mike Fornal had 8 saves in today’s game, which gave the Colonials defense a boost when they needed it.

Senior Jack Tepper said the Colonials “stayed physical and communicated on the slides to keep them from shooting.” He also added that “also when we saw a ground ball we all went on the attack to get the ball back to our offense.” Senior Nick Perron and Junior Sean Vroman helped Tepper on the back end today, which held Grafton to just 7 goals, who’s only losses on the season came when scoring 7 or fewer goals.

Coach Skermont thought that the Colonials “played solid 6 on 6 defense and our footwork and communication was much better than it has been recently.” He also felt the Colonials “clears were nicely executed and that’s attributed to a very spirited practice yesterday.”

Shrewsbury (5-6) takes on Tantasqua tomorrow at 4PM at Tantasqua Regional High School.

Grafton (6-4) plays Nipmuc next Tuesday at 4PM at Nipmuc Regional High School.

PHOTOS

Shrewsbury Clamps Down in Win over Sharon

By Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Worcester, Mass. - Playing a "home" game away from home is a familiar concept to Shrewsbury, which played the Sharon Eagles at Assumption College on Tuesday morning.

The Colonials' balanced offense and strong defense helped them come away with a 6-2 victory.

PHOTO GALLERY: Shrewsbury Lacrosse Defeats Sharon

Photos by Sydney LaQue (@SydneyLaque)

Worcester, Mass. - Shrewsbury lacrosse scored a 6-2 win over Sharon Tuesday on the campus of Assumption College. We will have a full recap of the game up in a bit, but for now, enjoy these shots snapped by our Sydney LaQue.

Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Shrewsbury Lacrosse Takes out Frustrations on Westboro

By Ryan Morgera (@RyanMor_ASSCO)

Westboro, Mass. - A lack of turf, and uncooperative Massachusetts weather has kept Shrewsbury from playing a game for 12 days, but the Colonials weathered the storm and came out on top Tuesday against Westboro, topping the Rangers 19-3 to open up Mid-Wach A play.


“For years, we’ve had a hard time winning at Westboro," Shrewsbury head coach Nate Skermont said. "It was important to get to 1-1 and 1-0 in the league. We haven’t played in 12 days, we haven’t been outside to practice. We expect to keep getting better everyday, so this was a nice win. I thought fundamentally we played good lacrosse, and now we gotta hold ourselves here and get better everyday."

The Colonials opened the game strong off a face-off win from junior FOGO #3 Mason Kohn (4G, 3A), who then went down the field and scored right away. Kohn scored a second goal about a minute later to make it 2-0 early for the Colonials.

PHOTO GALLERY: Shrewsbury Lacrosse tops Westboro

Photos by Sydney LaQue (@SydneyLaque)

Westboro, Mass. - The Shrewsbury Colonials ran away from Mid-Wach A rival Westboro Tuesday afternoon. We will have a full report on the game later, but now, check out these sweet shots taken by our Sydney LaQue.

Note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

Shrewsbury Hockey Edges Hanover to Repeat as D3 State Champs

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

BOSTON - The Shrewsbury Colonials upset Hanover, handing the Indians their only loss this season and capturing a second consecutive Division 3 state title in the process.

Shrewsbury relied on their top line of twins Anthony and Liam Quinlivan, and Tyler Borys, along with goaltender Pat Shaugnessy to earn a gritty 2-1 victory at the TD Garden.

Shrewsbury Hockey Headed back to D3 Final after Topping Westfield

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

Springfield, Mass. - The Colonials of Shrewsbury (16-2-2) defeated the Bombers of Westfield (14-5-2), 2-1 at the Mass Mutual Center on Wednesday night, advancing to championship Sunday at the TD Garden in Boston for the second consecutive year.

The Colonials were led offensively by twin brothers Anthony and Liam Quinlivan. Each had beautiful snipes in the slot, tallying their 22nd and 28th goals this season, respectively. The Quinlivan brothers have also totaled 50 and 48 points respectively this season, carrying the load with fellow line mate Tyler Borys, who has 31.

Shrewsbury Hockey tops Rival Algonquin to Defend D3 Central Crown

By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin91_)

Fitchburg, Mass. - The Shrewsbury Colonials (16-2-2) defeated the Algonquin Tomahawks (11-4-5) 4-1 at Fitchburg State University on Sunday night to capture their second straight Division 3 Central title.

Coming into today’s matchup, all eyes were on Shrewsbury, to see how the reigning Division 3 state champions would bounce back from a late season loss to rival Algonquin. How would the Colonials play when it mattered most?

They have faced their struggles against the Tomahawks in the last few years, losing in a shootout two years ago and dropping a tough regular season matchup this season.

But the star power from the Colonials' top line of Tyler Borys, and brothers Anthony and Liam Quinlivan provided the spark they have all season and propelled Shrewsbury to the victory.

Algonquin tops Shrewsbury in Mid-Wach Thriller

By Jason Siegel (@jasiegel1821)

Shrewsbury, Mass .- The Algonquin Tomahawks used a next-man-up mentality in Tuesday night’s Mid-Wach A matchup against the Shrewsbury Colonials to pull out a 71-68 win at Shrewsbury High School.

Algonquin star scorer and junior captain Nick Redden suffered an ankle injury while going up for a block three minutes into the game and would not return, but the T-Hawks (8-2, 3-1 Mid-Wach A) made ten 3-pointers to propel themselves past the Colonials (5-7, 1-4 Mid-Wach A).

Marlboro Shuts the Door on Shrewsbury

By Jason Siegel (@jasiegel1821)

Marlborough, Mass. - Tuesday’s game between the Shrewsbury Colonials and Marlborough Panthers was an example of why teams need to play hard for all 32 minutes to earn a win.

Marlborough (6-2, 1-2 Mid-Wach B) did just that on Tuesday night against Shrewsbury (3-3, 1-2 Mid-Wach A) to pick up a 55-49 victory at Marlborough High School.

Marlborough head coach Scott Bauman was happy with his team’s ability to close out the game.

PHOTO GALLERY: St. John's vs Shrewsbury Hockey

Photos by Ryan Bowman (@itsryanbowman)

Westboro, Mass. - For a full recap of this game, which saw St. John's skate away from cross-town rival Shrewsbury, click here. But first, continue below for the sights of the game, captured by our Ryan Bowman.

Also note that you can click any image to enlarge and launch a slideshow.

St. John's Hockey Skates Past Cross-Town Rival Shrewsbury

Photo by Ryan Bowman

 By Nick Beaudoin (@beaudoin_)

Westboro, Mass. - On Wednesday night, the Colonials of Shrewsbury High school took on their storied cross-town rivals, the Pioneers of St. John’s. The game lived up to the hype, as The Pioneers skated away from the Colonials by a final score of 6-2 at Northstar Youth Forum in Westboro.

Shrewsbury opted to go with a more challenging schedule this season, facing more division one and two teams outside of their yearly meeting with the Pioneers, and until tonight, it had gone in their favor.

It was a record crowd at Northstar for the game, including two student fan sections who both turned out in large fashion, and brought the noise.

Shrewsbury surely had the size in this year’s matchup, but Saint John’s brought the speed and skill that pushed it over the top.

Postgame Blog: Shrewsbury Rolls Past Shepherd Hill in D2 Central Semis

By Connor Evans (@RonnocEvans)

Shrewsbury, Mass. - CMass playoff football has ARRIVED.

Friday night's match-up featured two strong teams in the Shepherd Hill Rams and the Shrewsbury Colonials, but the result would be lopsided, and the defending champs would prove why they deserve to be back in the championship.

Colonials take it, 33-7.

Let's break it down.

Postgame Blog: Shrewsbury Outlasts Grafton in CMass Slugfest

 By Connor Evans (@RonnocEvans)

GRAFTON - Friday’s matchup between the neighboring Grafton Indians and Shrewsbury Colonials was a hard-fought, physical game. Shrewsbury dominated the first half and despite a strong Indians resurgence in the fourth quarter, the Colonials hung on to win 21-14.