Here’s a recap of the 4A boys lacrosse semifinals held at Westminster University on Wednesday, with Juan Diego and Waterford advancing to Saturday’s championship.
Juan Diego 15, Green Canyon 8
For the second straight year, Juan Diego is headed to the 4A championship.
The Soaring Eagles got it done with a convincing 15-8 win over Green Canyon in Wednesday’s semifinal.
Juan Diego got a rally going early and earned a 4-1 lead by the end of the first quarter, which Green Canyon never recovered from, thanks to the Soaring Eagles’ resilience.
The Wolves made pushes, but each time they were matched with a response from Juan Diego.
“We’ve had some ups and downs all year,” said Juan Diego head coach Brad Tack. “We’ve just focused on controlling what we can control and doing what we call the ‘Take no talent’ plays — running hard, playing hard, running through ground balls, running through passes, and I think that’s the key to turning around runs like that.”
One such run came from Noah Schuyler early in the second half. It was needed as Green Canyon had a two-goal push just before the half to cut the lead to 8-4.
After goals scored by Jack Stoback and Trey Nicolodemos to start the half, Schuyler went on a hat-trick run where he scored three times in under four minutes for a 14-5 lead.
That’s just how the semifinal went for the Soaring Eagles. Every time something went wrong, they were quick to fix the mistakes.
The mature style was thanks in large part to their 15 seniors.
“We’ve got 15 seniors, and that’s who is on the field in the tight moments,” Tack said. “That’s who we trust with the ball. So, they’ve been fighting for me for four years and built into this moment.”
With the win, Juan Diego punched its second consecutive ticket to the 4A championship. Last year, it lost 15-4 in the championship to Judge Memorial.
Waterford 17, Bear River 11
Waterford was in real danger of losing its semifinal after Bear River mounted a comeback in the second half to get within 11-10.
However, a stand from the Ravens’ underclassmen not only kept them in it, but they outscored the Bears 6-1 the rest of the way to get the 17-11 semifinal win.
It’ll be the first-ever championship appearance for Waterford.
“It’s honestly an awesome feeling,” said Waterford head coach Will Manny. “We haven’t even made it past the first or second round, and that just shows the growth of our boys and the chemistry, the trust and the work that they put in.”
It was a game of runs to start. Waterford earned a quick 2-0 lead, which Bear River responded to with a three-goal run of its own.
In the second quarter, the Ravens started to break away. Waterford unleashed an onslaught of goals in that frame for a 10-5 lead. The Ravens scored six unanswered goals, three of which were scored by freshman Pierce Hauber.
The Bears didn’t go down easily. They scored two goals at the end of the first half and then went on a three-goal run to pull it back to 11-10 in the third quarter.
But once again, Waterford mounted a dominant offensive stretch to secure the win, and it all started with the faceoffs from the freshmen, as Hauber and Luke Hunter each won faceoffs for the Ravens to turn the game in their favor.
Waterford capitalized and scored after three consecutive face-off wins.
“That’s two freshmen making those plays, too,” Manny said. “It’s a cliché, but it’s one moment at a time, one quarter at a time, one game at a time. I’m super proud of how young we are and still what they’re able to do.”
Even freshman goalie Sean O’Brien showed out late in the win. O’Brien had multiple big saves late and kept Bear River scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“Another freshman,” Manny said. “We got to protect him a little bit more. (We had) A couple of too many inside dunks, but he had one of those most ridiculous pipe-to-pipe saves at the end there for a little momentum to kill the last three minutes.
“He’s getting better each week and that’s all you can ask out of a freshman goalie.”