Above: Junior Evan Alvanes brushes Coventry defenders to reach the net. He scored two goals in the quarterfinal matchup. Photo by Tim Marshall. PORTSMOUTH — With only two seconds left on the clock, senior Will Morgan scored on a low shot into the Coventry net, lifting the Portsmouth High School boys’ varsity lacrosse team to an 8-7 victory in its first playoff contest at home Thursday night. The quarterfinal Division II contest was the first time in years the lacrosse program had hosted a home playoff game, and the team certainly made the most of it in a tight match before a big crowd. The two evenly matched teams had split their two regular season games and finished up with identical 8-5 records. Portsmouth came in as the fourth seed against the fifth-seeded Knotty Oakers. Portsmouth fought off a furious late comeback by Coventry, which trailed by three goals going into the final period of play. The Oakers scored four straight goals in under three minutes to go ahead 6-5 with less than nine minutes left. Portsmouth came back, however, on goals by Evan Alvanas and Aidan Bowen, to go ahead 7-6. Coventry tied it up less than a minute later and took possession on a faceoff, but PHS sophomore defensive standout Zach Rahilly stole the ball back. With under a minute left in regulation, sophomore defender John Roche had a great clear in transition that set up the game-winning goal. Morgan’s goal was his third of the game and Evan Alvanas had two goals. Also scoring for Portsmouth were Evan Alvanas (2), Ben O’Hearn, Aidan Bowen and Peyton Robinson. Malcolm Bowen made eight saves for the Patriots in net. Next up for the Patriots will be the winner of today’s game between top-seeded Prout and Mount St. Charles. Portsmouth fell to both teams in the regular season. The semi-final matchup will be played on Wednesday, May 27, at a time and place yet to be determined. All State players

Several players from the team have been selected for Division II All State. They are:

• First team defense: James Coll

• Second team defense: Zach Rahilly

• Second team attack: Ben O'Hearn

• Second team midfield: Will Morgan

JV squad advances The PHS junior varsity boys’ lacrosse team clinched a first-round bye in the statewide JV playoffs. The Patriots will face the winner of the Chariho and Mount St. Charles game at at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, at PHS.