Competitors’ comeback thwarted by Uppgren’s OT goal      John Uppgren’s fourth goal of the game, 3:08 into sudden-death overtime, game the Gunners the Boston Box Lacrosse League summer championship with a 16-15 win Aug. 8 at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Mass. The Gunners had a six-goal lead nine minutes into the second half and seemed to be cruising to a win when the Competitors started a comeback that they didn’t complete until Andrew Song’s goal with 45 seconds remaining in regulation tied the game at 15.    Both teams had multiple chances to score in overtime, Andrew Forrester turned away two solid scoring chances for the Wolves, and Competitors goalie made four stops in overtime until Uppgren finally found the back of the net at the end of a determined drive through a double-team.    Uppgren (Tufts) led a balanced Gunenrs attack with four goals on the night, with Drew Adams (Vassar), Nick Conway (Bowdoin), and Beau Wood (Tufts) adding three points each. Vin Curran (Lynchburg), Michael Leonard (Assumption) and Todd Zahurak (SUNY-Oswego) adding two points each. Forrester made 25 saves in the win.    Greg Rogowski (Merrimack) netted five goals and added two helpers for the Competitors, with Ben O’Neill adding four goals and Nick Shaw dropping a hat trick and a helper. Shaw wound up as the BBLL’s leading point—getter in the summer, with 18 goals and 15 assists on the session. Mark Bloom added two points for the Competitors, who got 35 saves out of...

3d Team Steak strengthens hold on first place      Former Tufts teammates Beau Wood and John Uppgren connected on three late goals to give the Gunners their second consecutive 10-9 nail-biting win over the Competitors in Boston Box Lacrosse League summer action on June 27.    In other action, the Voyageurs downed 3d Committed 12-9, and 3d Team Steak remained unbeaten, turning a close game into a rout over the Wolves 19-4.    A week after Uppgren scored the game-winner with one second leftin regulation, he didn’t wait quite so long to supply the heroics, but with a one-goal edge and under 10 minutes remaining, he and Wood rekindled their college fireworks. First Wood bagged his first of the night on a feed from Uppgren, then the pair reversed it, giving the Gunners a 9-6 lead – the first three-goal edge of the game – with 6:35 remaining. After Matt Cancian (UNH) answered for the Competitors, Uppgren fed Wood again, and the Gunners were able to hold off a frantic challenge, as goals by Lukas Buckley (Ohio State) and Cancian gave the Competitors several late chances to tie.    Gunners goalie Andrew Foster made the last two of his 24 saves in the final 15 seconds to preserve the win.    Uppgren finished with four goals and three assists, and Wood added his three points down the stretch. Nick Wbber (Georgian Court) added a pair for the Gunners. Marty Bowes (Hartford), Nick Shaw (Providence) and Cancian led the Competitors with...

Boston Box Lacrosse League Summer 2017 schedule (first team listed is the visiting team; please use visitors bench)   June 13 8 p.m. – Voyageurs vs. Competitors 9 p.m. – 3d Committed vs. Wolves 10 p.m. – 3d Team Steak vs. Gunners   June 20 8 p.m. – Gunners vs. 3d Committed 9 p.m. – 3d Team Steak vs. Competitors 10 p.m. – Wolves vs. Voyageurs   June 27 8 p.m. – Wolves vs. 3d Team Steak 9 p.m. – Voyageurs vs. 3d Committed 10 p.m. – Competitors vs. Gunners   July 4 – NO GAMES, ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!   July 11 7:30 p.m. – 3d Team Steak vs. Voyageurs 8:30 p.m. – Gunners vs. Wolves 9:30 p.m. – 3d Committed vs. Competitors   July 18 7:30 p.m. – Competitors vs. Wolves 8:30 p.m. – Voyageurs vs. Gunners 9:30 p.m. – 3d Committed vs. 3d Team Steak   Standings will now be set for the playoffs: Tiebreaker is the head-to-head game; in the event of a three-way tie, fewest goals allowed is the first tiebreaker, followed by head-to-head for the remaining teams   July 25 – play-in games 7:30 p.m. – 6th place team vs. 3rd place team 8:30 p.m. – 5th place vs. 4th place 9:30 p.m. – 1st place vs. 2nd place   August 1 – semi-finals 7:30 p.m. – lowest-seeded winner from 7/24 vs. 1st/2nd place winner 8:30 p.m. – highest seeded winner from 7/24 vs. 1st/2nd place loser 9:30 p.m. – consolation game (7/24 losers)   August...

New England’s only men’s box league to host 8-week summer league      The Boston Box Lacrosse League will hold its Summer 2017 session on Tuesday nights at the South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Mass., beginning June 13 and running through August 8.    The BBLL Summer League is typically heavy with regional collegiate players. Players can come in as individual free agents or in small groups placed together on a squad, or can be entered in the league as part of a pre-organized team. With eight teams expected to play this summer, the seven-game round-robin between squads will begin on June 13, with the top two teams earning spots in the summer championship Aug. 8; the league will be closed for the Independence Day holiday on July 4.    Assuming the league is full at eight teams, game times will be hourly, beginning at 7 p.m. with the last game of each week starting at 10.    The BBLL is a men’s adult league, but allows 17-year-olds in its summer league with parental consent.    Individuals can sign up online at BostonBoxLax.com. Summer league session costs are $200 per player. The league will be opened to a limited number of players/teams, signed up on a first-come, first-served basis.    The fee for a full-team is $3,200 pre-paid (with teams fielding a maximum roster of 22 players over the course of the summer, and not allowed to dress more than 18 players for any individual game).  For full teams or...

Evans, Bowes lead 12-11 win over Bullseye in fall-winter finals      Greg Rogowski netted a pass from Marty Bowes 1:08 into overtime and the defending-champion Blazers overcame the first-place Bullseye squad 12-11, extending their streak of title game dominance in the Boston Box Lacrosse League that started in 2012.    Bullseye held the advantage in loose balls and shots on goal and won nearly every face-off of the night, but the Blazers were able to stay within striking distance thanks to the hot goaltending of Joe Evans, who was battling fever and flu-like symptoms in addition to Bullseye’s shooters.    The teams traded goals throughout, with Bullseye jumping out to a 3-1 lead only to see Marty Bowes net consecutive goals – on feeds from Brandon Dube and Randy Fraser respectively – to knot the game with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half.    Joe Nardella won the ensuing faceoff, then found a seam and blasted one home to give Bullseye a 4-3 lead, Will Walker scored twice more before the half, but his goals were answered by Rogowski and Jeff McLaren and the game went into the half with Bullseye ahead 6-5.    The second half saw the defenses stand tall early, with only two goals scored during the first 10 minutes, both from Bullseye’s Vin Curran, who gave his squad the only three-goal edge of the evening.    Bowes closed the gap off a Fraser feed, Kyle Baker canned a Rogowski feed before Fraser quick-sticked...

Wins over Minutemen, MegaWhales set up a Valentine’s Day battle for crown    Greg Rogowski’s fourth goal of the night broke a 10-all tie with two minutes remaining in regulation, and the defending-champion Blazers and league-leading goalie Joe Evans made it stand up in a 12-10 victory over the MegaWhales to capture a spot in the Boston Box Lacrosse League finals.    In the other semi-final game played at South Shore Sports Center in Hingham, Mass. on Feb. 7, Will Walker’s five goals and hat tricks from Greg Lally and Ben Smith led Bullseye to a 16-11 win over the first-year Minutemen, to earn a place in the championship game, to be played on Valentine’s Day.    The Minutemen and Bullseye had actually played three one-goal games during the regular season, with the new team handing the first-place squad its first loss of the season with an overtime win in early November. This game started like it would be the same kind of nail-biter, with the Minutemen holding a 4-3 lead after 10 minutes of play, before Lally fueled a rally with two goals and an assist to help Bullseye build a lead to 7-5 by halftime.    The pace picked up early in the second half, but Bullseye got the better of the end-to-end, alternate scoring, expanding the lead to 10-7 five minutes into the second half. From there, the team – which won the regular-season crown for the first time this season – held the Minutemen scoreless for 13...