The Pilgrim boys lacrosse team punched its ticket to its fourth straight championship appearance on Tuesday night when it beat visiting Cumberland 10-9 in the Division II semifinals.

The top-seeded Pats got off to a fast start and picked up its first three goals inside the first five minutes of play and led by three in the fourth quarter. The Clippers surged in the final frame and wound up tying things at 9-9.

Pilgrim freshman Brett Taylor, who has been enjoying a big breakout year, got the game-winner with just over five minutes left to send the Pats to the finals at Brown on Saturday. Ryan Barlow led Pilgrim with four goals overall.

"Going into the game, we knew that it would be one of the hardest games of the year. I think once we went up quick, we took our feet off the gas pedal and Cumberland noticed that and took advantage. On the game-winning goal, our coach noticed a mismatch, I had done that move a bunch of times in the past, so I did what I always do. I cleared my head and made the play," said Taylor.

Taylor has been excited to make an impact in his freshman year.

"I have been playing lacrosse for a long time now. I wanted to continue after my brother, Pilgrim was down the street and I felt that I could help this team a lot. We have some great seniors, but I have lived up to what I wanted to do for this team," Taylor said.

The Pats will be taking on Prout, who they split the regular season series with and who completed a comeback win over Cranston West on their side of the bracket on Tuesday.

Moses Brown 9, Hendricken 6

Despite leading 6-3 at halftime, the Hawks were unable to hold on as Moses Brown scored four unanswered goals in the third to regain the lead and would go on to add two more insurance points in the fourth to win the Division I semifinals. Ben Selle led Hendricken in scoring.

GOLF

The opening round of the RIIL Golf State Championships was held on Tuesday, and Pilgrim’s Richie Cavanagh finished the day shooting a 73, which placed him second. The final round was played on Wednesday, but the results were not available at press time.

BASEBALL

Hendricken 10, Coventry 0

The top-ranked Hawks made another statement when they shut out Coventry in the opening round of the Division I playoffs. Jack LaRose led the team at the plate with three RBI, while Cooper Maher and Braeden Campbell each drove in a pair.

Griffin Crain pitched all five innings and allowed no runs on three hits with three strikeouts.

SOFTBALL

East Greenwich 5, Pilgrim 1

The visiting Avengers pulled off the upset in the opening round to send Pilgrim to the losers bracket in the Division I playoffs. Genna D’Amato drove in Madison Tuirok for the team’s lone run.