Biddeford’s Bryce Pray (22) cuts down the middle of the field during the Tigers boys’ lacrosse game against Marshwood at Waterhouse Field Friday night. Marshwood beat Biddeford 18-11. (MAUREEN GRANDMAISON PHOTOGRAPHY)

BIDDEFORD — The second matchup of the season between the Marshwood and Biddeford boys’ lacrosse teams started out eerily similar to its predecessor on Senior Night Thursday at Waterhouse Field.

In the first meeting, the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter but fell 11-9 in a nip-and-tuck affair on April 24.

 In the season finale for both teams, Biddeford, again, took a 3-0 first-quarter lead, before Marshwood’s Henry Honkonen scored six of his seven goals after halftime, and the Hawks held the Tigers scoreless in the fourth quarter to pull away for an 18-11 win.

“He (Honkonen) was outstanding,” said Marshwood coach Ralph Ruocco. “I thought Henry put the team on his shoulders. He told the team, ‘Hey, they’re not going to beat us … We’re not going to get beat.’ And that’s what happened.”

Senior Randy Guay (5) of Biddeford protects the ball from a Marshwood defender. Marshwood defeated Biddeford 18-11 on the Tigers’ Senior Night. (MAUREEN GRANDMAISON PHOTOGRAPHY)

Honkonen scored four times in the fourth to help Marshwood (9-3) pull away. His goal with 11:38 remaining put Marshwood ahead for good at 12-11. Less than a minute after, Honkonen cruised down the left side of the field, evaded a pair of defenders and put one in to make it 13-11. 

Avery Beale joined in on the scoring as he bounced one in from the top of the circle. Honkonen then scored twice in a 2:04 span to make it 16-11 with 3:31 left. But even though Honkonen provided most of the excitement for the Hawks in the second half, Ruocco was proud of the overall team effort.

“It’s nice to see our young kids score, especially Carsen (Goodwin),” he said. Goodwin chipped in with three goals, including the final two of the game, and Sean Maguire scored all three of his in the first half to help give Marshwood an 8-5 lead late in the second. 

The Hawks appeared to be on the brink of taking control of the game late in the second period, but Biddeford got a goal from Colin Petit with 8.6 left two make it 8-6 heading into halftime.

“It was a tough loss,” said Biddeford coach Jason Martel. “But, they fought. They fought all the way to the end.”

Biddeford (5-7) showed fight in the third quarter. Trailing 10-9 late in the stanza, Petit found Nick McSorley on a man-up goal to tie it. Petit then took matters into his own hands and scored from Bryce Pray less than a minute later to put the Tigers ahead 11-10 with 2:46 left. 

Marshwood, however, stymied the run with 1:13 left when Cullen Casey scored from the top of the circle to tie the game heading into the fourth. The Hawks never looked back. 

“We stayed steady through three quarters,” Martel said. “But unfortunately it’s a four-quarter game.”

Ruoco was pleased with the way his team showed resilience after Biddeford pulled ahead in the third. But even though Marshwood finished with its best record under Ruocco, and heads into the playoffs No. 5 in Class B, the head coach still sees room for improvement going forward. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “We were throwing the ball away a lot when we were up.”

Nick McSorley paced Biddeford offense with four goals, while Petit finished with two goals and two assists. For Martel, he’ll look back at the fourth quarter where things went wrong for the Tigers, and hope to adjust heading into the playoffs. Biddeford, ranked ninth, will likely play a preliminary game early next week.

A loss in their final home game might leave a bitter taste for seniors CJ Thorne, Randall Guay, Colin Petit, Jeremy Daigneault, Tommy Thompson, Joseph Morrison, Matthew Martel, and Gabriel Peaslee. But the 2019 class still has one more opportunity to play in the postseason.

 “We just have to regroup and see where everything stands,” Martel said. “ If we can put four quarters together, with the numbers we have, something will break for us.”