Defense helps lift St. Thomas boys lacrosse past Hollis Brookline in D2 playoffs (video)

HOLLIS - The St. Thomas Aquinas High School boys lacrosse team has relied on its offense throughout this season.

When the offense wasn't clicking Saturday, the Saints found ways to pick up the slack all over the field.

No. 5 St. Thomas held No. 4 Hollis Brookline scoreless in the fourth quarter, and was successful enough in maintaining possessions for its offense to find enough footing to pull out a 9-8 win in the Division II quarterfinals.

The win puts the Saints in the semifinals for the second time in three seasons, where they will face top-seeded Derryfield, which beat No. 8 Oyster River-Newmarket in the quarterfinals. That game will take place at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Bedford High School.

"We played good enough to win here," St. Thomas coach Scott Singer said. "Our defense was fantastic. They did everything we needed them to do, came up with the stops, kept the score where we needed it to be. Our defense and our clears won us the game.

"Our offense wasn’t clicking and this was probably one of our weaker days in a few weeks. The defense bailed us out, our faceoff play in the second half bailed us out, and made up for us not having a great day on offense."

Jake More made six of his 11 saves in the fourth quarter, including one with about seven seconds left on a shot that would have tied the game. The Saints also won 9 of 12 faceoffs in the second half, including the final five of the game.

Aidan Morrison had three goals and scored what proved to be the game-winner for St. Thomas (13-5) with 1:35 remaining, when his bounce shot snuck through the legs of HB goalie Levi Mitchell and hit just inside the far top corner.

"Right through his legs, probably (Morrison's) first righty goal ever," Singer said. "We needed a goal like that. Throughout the whole game, I thought we left a lot of goals off the board. Luckily, we got enough here to get it done."

Finley De Tolla also had three goals and an assist while Luke Daly had two goals and Jackson Estes had a goal and two assists.

JP Torgersen had three goals to lead the Cavaliers (13-6) while Michael O'Hearn had a goal and three assists and Noah Taylor had a goal and two assists. Bennett Torgersen also scored twice and Colin Magnuszewski added a goal.

Mitchell finished with 14 saves, including one with under a minute to play that helped set up HB's final look.

"It was a good game," HB coach Mac Martin said. "That’s what you want in the playoffs. That’s the type of game you want. We went on a nice run in the third and they answered it. We had an opportunity at the end."

The Cavs led 4-3 at halftime, but the Saints tied the game early in the third quarter. JP Torgersen answered quickly for HB, and the senior and Magnuszewski scored back-to-back goals 20 seconds apart to make it 7-4 with 4:56 left in the third.

Morrison made it 7-5 on a goal with 1:36 to play in the quarter but O'Hearn answered with 55 seconds remaining, scoring off a feed from Taylor to make it 8-5. But Daly responded for St. Thomas, making it a two-goal game with eight seconds left in the quarter.

De Tolla kept the momentum going, as he scored just 47 seconds into the quarter to make it a one-goal game, and then scored with 9:11 to play to tie it at 8.

Both teams were scoreless for a while after that, as both goalies came up with big stops. The Saints won the faceoff after Morrison's go-ahead goal, and in the scramble for possession, the Cavs were flagged for being offside.

Down a player, HB used Mitchell to put pressure on St. Thomas, and with the net empty, De Tolla took a shot. Mitchell was able to rush back and snagged the ball before it went in and the Cavs cleared it to give themselves a chance, taking a timeout with 22 seconds left.

"Their goalie started making very big saves," Martin said. "Third quarter, we got the best of him, but fourth quarter, he stepped up. We were getting good looks, and every time we got a look, even that last opportunity there, we drew it up, got a look on the crease and there is their goalie making a save."

Taylor found JP Torgersen in front, and despite being surrounded by St. Thomas defenders, he was able to get a shot off. More was able to stop it and quickly clear to preserve the win.

"Jake has been awesome," Singer said. "He made a lot of good saves, especially in the fourth. We’ve had struggles all season with our clears. It won us the game."