Oh, Henrys: Attias, Higgins led Northampton boys lacrosse past South Hadley, 15-5

By GAGE NUTTER

For the Gazette

Published: 04-25-2017 11:08 PM

SOUTH HADLEY — Northampton boys lacrosse teammates Henry Higgins and Henry Attias have more in common than just a first name.

They both know how to facilitate the offense and how to put the ball in the back of the net.

Higgins finished with six goals and Attias added four goals and four assists for the Blue Devils during their 15-5 win over South Hadley on Tuesday night.

“I have been around both Henrys a long time and they are two terrific players,” Northampton coach Matt Striebel said. “They are both cerebral players. They will tell you, from the minute I met them when they were young, I have been pushing them hard. I’m not surprised with the performance that they had. They support each other so much. They both understand that sometimes they are going to be feeders and sometimes they are going to be scorers.”

Attias opened the scoring in the first quarter with the first two goals to give Northampton a 2-0 lead. Higgins added two goals of his own to give the Blue Devils a 4-0 lead going into the first break.

Northampton carried the momentum into the second quarter. Tyler Allcroft took the ball from behind the net and made his way up front to finish. Thirty-three seconds later, South Hadley’s Jacob Allard scored to close the gap to 5-1. By the end of the quarter, Higgins scored two more and Attias added one as the Blue Devils led 8-1 at halftime.

Northampton was not only exemplary on offense throughout the night, but it was sound defensively as well. From the bleachers the defensive unit could be heard calling out every pass and every defensive slide.

“We really put an emphasis on communication and playing as a unit,” Northampton defenseman Sam Ohotnicky said. “It’s never one guy dominating the defensive end. We have all got to play together. Overall everyone helped each other very nicely.”

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The offensive output stayed steady for the Blue Devils in the third. Attias made it 9-1, but 1:14 later South Hadley’s Ryan Levrault scored with a bounce shot after lowering his shoulder to make space. Northampton followed that goal with three from Higgins, Keanan Bradley and Jared Fowler to give the Blue Devils a comfortable 12-2 lead heading into the fourth.

South Hadley’s Liam Dawson scored early in the quarter and Steven Stratton put together two quick goals late to give the Tigers life at 12-5. But Hamp put the game away with three more goals.

Northampton goalie Ryan Heng finished with five saves. South Hadley’s Corey Calkins had six.

Higgins, who assisted on three of Attias’ goals, said chemistry allows both players to thrive.

“It starts with him being a fantastic athlete and his willingness to initiate,” Higgins said. “He and I have been playing together a while so our chemistry has really been building. We have had great fluidity in practice and playing against our defense, which is great.”

Northampton moved to 7-1, while South Hadley fell to 1-6.

“Our fundamentals just weren’t there,” Tigers coach Matt Benoit said. “We threw the ball out of bounds and they played a good game, they really took it to us. They just played better than we did today.”

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