Boys’ Latin tops Mt. St. Joe in Lacrosse, 9-5

Boys’ Latin head coach Bob Shriver must have wondered if the lacrosse gods were continuing to dog the team this year, but a goal at the end of the first quarter may have changed that outlook in a game against Mt. St. Joe at Boy’s Latin on Thursday.

The Gaels, who won every first half faceoff, were also the first team to light up the scoreboard when Kevin MacQuilliam converted a pass from Michael Leclair at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter.

But BL scored two goals in the final 33 seconds of the opening 12 minutes, the first with the Lakers playing down a man and the second coming with just one second left. Wells Stanwick scored the first, rolling around the right side of the crease and placing the ball into the upper left corner.

Then, with time running out, Laker goalie Adam Davey saved a weak St. Joe shot and lobbed a long pass up the field with time running out. Stephen Luck beat the Gael goalie to the loose ball and flicked it into the open net with one tick left to give the Lakers a 2-1 lead.

“I don’t know, but we hope so,” Shriver said after the game when asked if the unusual score is a signal that the team’s luck is about the change. The Lakers, 4-4 in the MIAA A conference and 7-5 overall, have lost two overtime games this season and, according to Shriver, haven’t had too many breaks go their way.

“To win in this league, you have to be good—and you have to be lucky,” Shriver said before the game. “We haven’t been lucky.”

The last-second goal seemed to give life to the Lakers, who peppered the St. Joe goal with second quarter shots.

Yet from a scoring standpoint, it was almost a repeat of the first quarter as the Lakers netted two goals in the final minute of the half. Stanwick charged from the left side and popped a 10-yard shot into the upper right corner to give BL a 3-1 lead with 58 seconds left.

Then with just three seconds left, Stanwick fed the ball to Ben Pridemore who was open on the right side of the goal and placed his ground ball shot into left side of the net.

The third quarter saw the two teams trade goals, Boys' Latin kill two penalties and score in an extra man situation.

The Gaels were again first on the board when Leclair took a Brendan Schultz feed and scored from the crease at the 8:18 mark.

Luck netted his second goal of the game for Boys’ Latin off a Shack Stanwick assist with 5:22 remaining.  Then, the Stanwick brothers teamed up for the Lakers sixth goal in a man-up situation when Wells, a senior, fed Shack, a freshman, with 4:53 left.

St. Joe closed the third quarter scoring at the 3:09 mark when Craig Costabile took advantage of lax defense to circle from center behind and score from the right crease. The Gaels continued to pressure the Laker goal for the balance of the quarter but a much stiffer defense denied any quality shots.

Boys' Latin scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to open an 8-3 advantage with 8:14 remaining, while their tough defense kept the Gaels off the scoreboard until 2:50 was left to play.

At the 9:10 mark, Shack Stanwick fed Greg Pyke, who was open on the right side from about five yards out. Then it was Shack’s turn to score off a feed from Colin Heacock with 8:14 remaining.

With 2:50 left, St. Joe intercepted a Laker pass, cleared the ball and scored when Sean Johnston took a pass from Joey Rolando.

The final quarter featured more last-minute offense, this time with each team hitting the nets.

Pridemore scored his second goal of the game, this one unassisted, with 59 seconds left. Then, with six seconds left, Kevin Wise, in spite of a tough BL defensive ride, managed to uncork a sidearm shot past Laker goalie Chris Rizakos, who had replaced Davey earlier in the half.

“We’ve been reeling, obviously,” Shriver said after the game, in reference to the team’s .500 conference record.

“We’ve been playing a little bit on eggshells and everybody’s just a little nervous —we could have played a little bit better, but St. Joe had a lot to do with it.  They played a pretty good game,” Shriver said.

“But we did what we needed to do,” he said.

Then he reflected on the last-second goals in each of the first two quarters.

“Those two goals were huge.”