DANVERS — St. John’s Prep saved their spectacular season going Monday in opposition to a motivated rival.
Senior attackman Jimmy Ayers sniped 4 targets and dished out two assists, whereas Harlan Graber added a hat trick himself as SJP pulled away inside the second half for a important 14-8 victory over Catholic Convention foe Xaverian.
“We knew they had been going to come back out actually sturdy,” said Ayers. “They’re all the time robust competitors for us. They’re well-coached. I believe we began off a bit quick, then they caught up actually fast. Gavin (Kornitsky) made some key saves. (Christopher Esposito) was doing nicely within the face-offs, and I believe that’s what sort of settled us in, acquired us a snug lead. Then, we had been in a position to depend on our staff and my teammates to get the job accomplished.”
It wasn’t until the waning moments of the second quarter that St. John’s Prep (11-1) was ready to kick points into full gear. Shortly after Xaverian standout Henry Hasselbeck evened points up at 4-all by firing home a shot with 6:27 to play inside the half, Ayers and Graber responded for St. John’s Prep by sniping consecutive tallies. Matt Morrow netted a pair of targets inside the final two minutes as a result of the Eagles leaped ahead 8-5 on the break.
With 3:13 remaining inside the third physique, St. John’s Prep senior Noah Brown drove in the direction of the Xaverian, bowling over a pair of defenders and shedding his stick inside the course of. However the ball skipped correct to Ayers, who then fired a rocket into the cage to make it 10-6. The Eagles have been ready to cruise from there.
“I noticed Noah,” laughed Ayers. “He’s a giant lefty coming downhill. So, I knew he was going to decrease his shoulder, and happily, the ball got here proper to me. I’ll give him the help on that…it was an incredible move. Fortunately, I used to be in a position to bury.”
Senior midfielder Lucas Verrier recorded two targets to help St. John’s Prep, whereas sophomore attackman Cam McCarthy (goal, two assists) provided a elevate himself.
Xaverian parted strategies with lacrosse coach Daggett Morse this earlier weekend. Now in his first season with the Hawks, Ryan Quinn will possible be boss on an interim basis.
“With us, it’s all about being a brother,” said Quinn. “Xaverian Brothers Excessive Faculty, Brothers is in our title. One among our key tenants for this program is being a household, and households should work onerous to ensure issues go proper. When issues go mistaken, we now have to behave much more like household to intensify these factors. I assumed they did a extremely good job at the moment. Clearly, the end result’s what we needed, however (it’s) an incredible staff we performed in opposition to at the moment, and I assumed we gave a reasonably good effort.”
Hasselbeck, Dylan Benoit and Charles Brennan each accomplished with two targets to vitality the Hawks.
It was a singular state of affairs for Eagles coach John Pynchon and his staff, nevertheless his group was lastly ready to knock off its latest opponent. Since faltering to the Brunswick Faculty (Conn.) in an interstate matchup (a 17-10 loss April 15), St. John’s Prep has acquired its ultimate six video video games. The latest victory items up a extraordinarily anticipated showdown with BC Excessive this upcoming week.
“That was an attention-grabbing dynamic there,” St. John’s Prep lacrosse coach John Pynchon. “We had no concept what to anticipate. I believe (Xaverian) got here out and performed nice, goalie made a bunch of excellent saves. Ultimately, it’s a Convention win, which is all the time large for us. So, we’ve acquired to get higher, and be prepared for BC Excessive on Thursday.”
