Bow boys lacrosse holds off Campbell to remain unbeaten (video)

LITCHFIELD - Things were getting worse for the Bow High School boys lacrosse team by the second.

A four-goal halftime lead had been whittled down to one in the final minutes of Friday's game against Campbell. The Cougars had possession in the last 90 seconds, when the Falcons took two penalties, going down two players.

But when Campbell got a good look, goalie Brad Ekstrom was able to come up with a play, and the Cougars couldn't hang on to the ball long enough after that, as Bow was able to escape with a 9-8 win in a game between the two teams at the top of the Division III standings.

"After the first penalty, we got the ball and then we turned it over, and we had some offensive middies on man-down," Bow coach Devin Calkins said. "I was looking for an opportunity to call a timeout out to get our personnel on the field, and then we ended up getting a second penalty. Not ideal. The guys on the field stayed connected.

"This was a dog fight. Nothing but respect for these. I expect we’ll see them somewhere down the road."

Early on, the Falcons (13-0) made it look like they'd cruise to another victory this season, as jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter, keeping the ball away from Campbell (12-2) for long stretches. It was a 5-2 lead going into the second quarter when the Cougars defensive adjustments started to turn things around.

"They definitely adjusted their crease slides right after the first quarter," Calkins said. "From there, we had to change our offense because they were sliding, they were getting in our hands, we couldn’t get anything going. We just switched to a set to open the field up."

After losing its first game on Monday to Pelham, the second-half turnaround against Bow was something the Cougars felt the could feel good about.

"It’s good to know that we can compete with this team," Campbell coach Josh Knight said. "We let up two goals in the second half. I think we came in too hyped up and we weren’t playing six-man defense at the beginning, we were throwing balls away."

Ben Berube and Ryan McCabe each had two goals for Bow while Will Bennett had a goal and two assists. Canyon Batcheldor and Gavin McCabe had a goal and an assist each while Brodie O'Neil and Nate Davis each scored.

The goal by Davis proved to be the game-winner with 9:09 remaining, and it came after Berube went down with an injury, and Davis came off the bench as a replacement.

"Ben is a senior captain and he does so much for our group with his leadership and dedication," Calkins said. "He was riding really hard (Friday) and we really missed him down the stretch. I’m happy for Nate who came in and got a huge goal for us. He’s charged up on the bench all game long and ready to go in and take somebody. He finally got an opportunity to do that and connected."

It was the second goal for Bow in a four-minute stretch going back to the third quarter and gave the Falcons a 9-6 lead that felt like it'd be enough. That was especially the case after Hollis Jones won the ensuing faceoff and Bow was able to keep possession for a few minutes.

But a turnover led to a Campbell opportunity and Andrew Willnus, who finished with five goals and an assist, scored with 5:47 left to get the Cougars back within two.

The junior added another goal with 2:33 remaining to get the Cougars within one goal for the second time in the half, and over the final two minutes, it looked like Campbell would have several chances to tie it, but couldn't capitalize.

"I think we always had the confidence with the guys, but mental and physical mistakes bit us and we dug ourselves too big of a hole," Knight said. "I never question this group’s mental toughness. We were ready to go, I just think at times we were trying too much and not letting the game come to us."

Cruz Sandquest finished with two goals for Campbell and Wyatt Tarr also scored. Ryan Guerrette made eight saves for the Cougars while Ekstrom had seven, including one in the final minute, to go with a couple of other big plays late.

"He’s young but he’s earned the respect from out team," Calkins said of his goalie. "Every single guy on this team believes in Brad. We try to tell him to just stay focused, keep your head up and try to shake off all the other nonsense. When it comes down to it, we trust that he’s going to make the right play."