Edmonds, Brown lead Fairfield Prep past Hand in SCC lacrosse final

There was no shortage of obstacles and distractions standing in the Fairfield Prep boys lacrosse team's quest to repeat as SCC champion.

Yet none were able to derail the Jesuits and Tim Edmonds.

The junior attack scored three goals and had three assists as No. 1 Prep won its second straight conference crown 11-1 over No. 3 Hand Friday at Branford High School.

Edmonds earned SCC-tournament MVP honors, scoring six goals and assisting eight others in Prep's three tournament games.

"I knew this year I had a chance at (the MVP award)," Edmonds said. "I worked hard, and I'm proud of it."

Junior Kevin Brown scored three goals and had two assists and Austin Sims tallied twice and earned an assist as Prep won its fifth title in six years and second straight.

"We've worked hard for this all season," Brown said. "It's definitely exciting."

Hand senior Matt Potter scored the Tigers' lone goal with 35.2 second left to dodge the shutout. Hand fell for the third time this year to Prep with the Jesuits outscoring the Tigers 40-4 in those games.

"They're a very good team," Hand coach Jeff Lombardo said of Prep. "It was a matter of being gassed too, because we're not very deep."

Prep's bus was slowed by traffic throughout New Haven on its way to the game. The tournament's final was also moved up to Friday at 3 p.m., due to Prep's senior prom, which took place Friday night. The Jesuits' seniors are also just nine days from graduation.

"We have a lot of stuff going on right now," Prep coach Chris Smalkais said. "It's a busy time in the life of a Fairfield Prep lacrosse student-athlete."

And for one quarter it showed, as Prep failed to score more than Edmonds' goal from Sims.

"I thought we came out a bit lethargic," Smalkais said.

Yet four second-quarter tallies helped Prep build a 5-0 halftime lead. Edmonds had a hand in all five first-half goals, scoring three and assisting on the two others.

"We knew we had to pick it up," Edmonds said. "We popped a couple of goals and got our momentum going."

Brown, Sims and senior Matt Brophy each potted third quarter goals. Sims and junior Sean Henry scored in the fourth quarter's early stages, lifting Prep's advantage to 10-0.

As the score became lopsided, the game became more chippy. The teams combined for 12 second-half penalties, seven of which came in the fourth quarter. Of those seven, five were charged against Hand.

"We just tried to keep playing our game," Brown said. "It comes back to fundamentals, making our passes and hitting our shots, and that's how you beat a team like that."

ppickens@bcnnew.com; twitter.com/Pat_Pickens

SCC Championship

HAND 0 0 0 1--1

FAIRFIELD PREP 1 4 3 3--11

Records: Hand 10-9, Fairfield Prep 15-3; Scoring: H--Matt Potter; FP--Tim Edmonds (3g, 3a), Kevin Brown (3g, 2a), Austin Sims (2g, 1a), Matt Brophy (1g, 1a), Sean Henry (1g), Burke Smith (1g), John Edmonds (1a); Goalies: H--Connor Carroll (10 saves); FP--Mike Seelye (6); Shots: H 16, FP 34.