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Watch: East Greenwich boys lacrosse tops Westerly at home
Video of East Greenwich boys lacrosse celebrating its victory over Westerly on May 5, 2025.
EAST GREENWICH — East Greenwich boys lacrosse has balance and championship pedigree in its offense.
It’s how the Avengers have positioned themselves into the championship contender conversation in Division II. Four different scorers helped in East Greenwich’s game-winning run against Westerly on Monday.
The defense nearly silenced the Bulldogs in the second half as East Greenwich added to its résumé with a 14-8 triumph at home. East Greenwich (8-1) is neck-and-neck with Portsmouth (8-1) in RPI standings.
“It was just really a momentum game,” EG’s Benjamin Butterfield said. “We were looking pretty dead in the first half, and then we kind of picked it up in the second half. We really just emphasized our defensive pressure, and how our offense wasn’t moving too well. As you saw, we started getting the ball moved around in the third quarter. We were really spinning it around and had guys open on the crease.”
East Greenwich held just an 8-6 advantage at the halftime intermission. But the Avengers quickly broke it open as Butterfield pushed EG’s lead to three, the largest of the game at the time, on a score with 6:26 left in the third frame. Micah Dawson then sandwiched two goals between Wyatt Gelzhiser’s bounce shot from deep for a 13-7 advantage with 7:55 left in the fourth.
Gelzhiser led East Greenwich/Toll Gate to a D-II hockey championship in the winter as the team’s goalie. He brings a postseason run to the lacrosse group that is trying to capture its first championship since 2014.
“It’s definitely given us more versatility,” Oliver Jackson said of the unselfish offense. “We have so many threats. In practice … we dish and we drive and we just get it done from there.”
Jackson added one last Avenger score on an underhand attempt with 6:04 left in regulation.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team that cares so much for each other and believes in each other,” Jackson said.
Portsmouth toppled East Greenwich 11-10 on Friday as Rafe Dionne lifted the Patriots in overtime. Those two clubs, Middletown and Westerly all top the D-II table for a potentially exciting postseason.
“Sometimes we can catch each other slacking,” Jackson said. “But it’s up to us and I just feel if we practice every day, show up and just really try to care for each other, we can get it done [this season].”
Said Butterfield: “Over the past couple years our chemistry has been good, but not as good as it has this year. We are forming a brotherhood this year and we’ve all been buying in this year.”
Westerly is young but competitive
The Bulldogs halted EG’s run on Caleb Williams’ goal late in regulation, but it was too late to mount a serious comeback. Westerly has hit a rough patch over the last three games. Losses against Middletown and Waterford led into Monday’s game against East Greenwich. But Westerly’s had a standout season thus far for a young group.
“We’re all playing for each other, and we are a young team,” Williams said. “We only have three seniors, so we want to win this year, but we’re building it up for next year. If we can step up and actually get some wins this year, it builds for next year.”
East Greenwich dominated the faceoff in the second half behind Jackson’s efforts. It helped limit Westerly’s offense over the final 24 minutes. If Westerly can work to win a few extra possessions, and make the most of them, the Bulldogs will be a tough out in the playoffs.
“They got a lead in the third quarter and into the fourth and they just held it,” Williams said of East Greenwich. “We couldn’t clear well, attack didn’t help out, we just weren’t a good unit clearing the ball.”
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