BURLINGTON — How could the Div. 1 boys state finals pit anyone aside from powerhouses St. John’s Prep and BC Excessive as soon as extra?
On Sunday, the two packages met inside the championship for a third straight yr, and the latest chapter inside the storied rivalry was far and away the very best. Junior attackman Jake Vana buried 4 targets and dished out a pair of assists, whereas Jimmy Ayers (5 targets, assist) moreover provided a big spark as top-seeded St. John’s Prep overcame a four-goal fourth quarter deficit en path to capturing its third consecutive Div. 1 lacrosse title with a stunning 16-14 victory over BC Excessive at Burlington Excessive Faculty.
“This was a wild recreation,” said St. John’s Prep coach John Pynchon. “I’m simply so happy with these seniors. After we misplaced to (BC Excessive) up at our place, we had a reasonably emotional assembly. We introduced a photograph in of the crew from final yr. (I stated) to the seniors: ‘That was final yr. Overlook it. We wish to go get one other one.’ I’m simply so proud… it was a dramatic, nice lacrosse recreation.”
Whereas the comeback was unbelievable, St. John’s Prep (22-1) acquired off to a sluggish start, and the Eagles struggled mightily with containing BC Excessive (20-3) attackman Patrick Maroney. The senior buried three targets inside the first quarter alone, providing his workforce a 4-2 lead on the end of the first quarter.
The entire recreation was a sequence of runs however, and St. John’s Prep responded inside the second quarter. Ayers and Vana sniped consecutive tallies to open the physique, serving to the Eagles draw even at 4-all with 9:29 left inside the half. Ayers would go on to net two further targets inside the stanza, serving to St. John’s Prep assemble a slim 8-6 lead on the half.
Then, BC Excessive erupted inside the third quarter. Nolan Hurley tallied a pair of targets inside the physique, along with one with 4 seconds remaining. Then in backbreaking pattern, St. John’s Prep surrendered yet one more purpose on the horn, as Shane McDonnell obtained the next face-off and fed a go to Will Emsing. The Tufts commit sniped twine, and BC Excessive had a 13-9 lead moving into the fourth.
“It might have been very easy to say: ‘Effectively, we already received the final two years, it was their yr, they have been certain to win it,’” Vana said. “However no. We did a full crew huddle. We didn’t break up into offense, protection. We got here collectively, all of us checked out one another. Our slogan is: ‘Collectively, we’re sufficient,’ the place we don’t want any exterior assist.”
Then, the Eagles staged a rally for the ages. Vana and Ayers opened the last word physique with a pair of targets, sooner than Nathaniel Jones added his title to the scoresheet to cut it to 13-12 with 9:24 left.
With 3:08 to play, Ayers buried the equalizer, sooner than Matthew Morrow registered the go-ahead and eventual game-clinching purpose with 2:42 left. Vana iced the game with an open-netter with 40 seconds to play, sealing the latest title for the Eagles.
“That’s what a real crew does,” said Vana. “When your again’s in opposition to the wall, they make it rely. That’s what we did at the moment. I couldn’t be extra happy with our crew.”
