St. John's Prep's Griffin Cardew (left) tries to advance the ball and stave off the defensive efforts of Duxbury's Steven Ripley.
(Jim Davis/Globe Staff)
D1 boys' lacrosse
Duxbury squeezes by Prep
Green Dragons capture sixth straight crown
St. John's Prep's Griffin Cardew (left) tries to advance the ball and stave off the defensive efforts of Duxbury's Steven Ripley.
(Jim Davis/Globe Staff)
Duxbury earned its sixth straight state title and got a little payback against the team that ended its in-state win streak at 99 games when it defeated St. John's Prep, 13-12, in the Division 1 final at Harvard Stadium last night.
"That was a close game for a reason," said Duxbury coach Chris Sweet. "St. John's has a heck of a team and it could have gone either way."
Just as he has done countless times, Quinn Cully dominated, scoring six goals and leading Duxbury before he departs for Notre Dame next fall.
"Cully was a man among boys," said Sweet. "He has done that for us so many times during his career and he has carried us all season."
Cully did most of his damage in the first half, scoring five of the Green Dragons' 10 goals, most on hard slashes across the zone. On the strength of that outburst, and two goals from fellow All-American Hakeem Lecky, Duxbury built a 10-5 lead.
Though the teams traded punches coming out of the half, Prep started to build momentum when Garrett Campbell scored on a two-man advantage with 7:17 to play in the second half.
From that moment, Prep scored three consecutive goals, first from Ryan Harding. Then Griffin Cardew broke through on a long run. Then, finally, Campbell took the ball with his back to the net and 6:18 to play, spun past his man, and fired a strike that cut the Duxbury lead to 12-11.
"We were working so hard on defense that it made it tough to do much on offense," said Cully. "That was more running than we have done all year and it allowed them back in."
One minute later, Prep's Colin Blackwell found himself alone in front of the net with a chance to tie the game, but he was robbed by Mickey Zaverucha, who had 10 saves in the second half and five in the fourth quarter.
"That play was amazing," said Sweet. "It was huge for us, we scored right off that play and it turned the game for us. He's been doing that all year, and I don't think we get here without him."
In transition off that save, Matt Heatherington scored, and though there were five minutes left, that goal proved to be the winner.
"We put it on our defense to win it tonight, and they came through," said Sweet.
When the horn sounded, Duxbury had earned its sixth straight title. The Dragons finished 19-3, as did St. John's Prep.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
