Duxbury boys lacrosse scores late to beat Bishop Guertin

NEWTON, Mass. - Shane Sullivan scored his third goal of the fourth quarter with 39 seconds to play Wednesday and the Duxbury High School boys lacrosse team rallied to defeat Bishop Guertin 11-10.

Sullivan finished with four goals as the Dragons outscored the Cardinals 3-1 in the final 12 minutes. Niall Dillon also had two goals and goalie Brady Burke made 16 saves, including one in the final seconds that would have tied the game.

"It was a real gutcheck for our guys," Duxbury coach Chris Sweet said. "The last two games had been one-goal losses, in games similar to this, just up-and-down, physical, so I’m proud of the way our guys came back and won the game."

Bishop Guertin (13-2) got three goals and an assist each from Charlie O'Brien and Alex Astarita. Nick Prunier also had two goals and Gage Sevigny had a goal and an assist. Collin Casey made 12 saves.

"We had a lot of two-goal swings, where we had point-blank shots and their goalie made the save and they're going the other way," Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. "They were decent shots. A game like this, it's heartbreaking because we've lost to them every time. But in the end, it will make us better."

The teams have played every year since 2007 and Duxbury has won all nine meetings by an average of 3.9 goals, although three of the last four have been by one- or two-goal games.

The Cardinals scored the first goal of the game, but fell behind 5-1 midway through the second quarter. Bishop Guertin had won every faceoff to that point, but hadn't been able to capitalize thanks to turnovers and saves by Burke.

Mike Carluccio and Astarita scored back-to-back goals to get Bishop Guertin within two, 5-3, and it was 6-4 Duxbury when Hunter Marston knocked Carluccio out of the game with a shoulder to the upper body.

The hit seemed to fire up the Cardinals, who scored on the ensuing manup to make it 6-5 at halftime, and then scored two goals in the first 58 seconds of the third to take a 7-6 lead.

"Mike has given everything he has had to the program for the last four years and he's just a great leader for this team," Cameron said. "We rallied around that. That was the inspiration, the energy for that third quarter. Not only is he one of our best offensive guys, he's one of our best defensive guys, so that changed a lot of things for us."

Duxbury tied it less than two minutes later on a goal by Dillon, but Bishop Guertin got goals from O'Brien and Prunier 2:40 apart to take a 9-7 lead.

The Cardinals had opportunities to go up three goals, but Burke made four big saves in the final minutes of the quarter and Bishop Guertin missed on an empty-net chance.

The Dragons came back in the fourth, getting goals from Sullivan and Harrison Piper less than two minutes apart to tie the game at 9. After a timeout, Bishop Guertin answered on a goal by Prunier that gave the Cardinals a 10-9 lead with 5:55 left.

But the lead wouldn't last, as Sullivan scored again just 45 seconds later to tie it 10-10. The Cardinals survived being a man down for a minute, but the Dragons were able to maintain possession, and Sullivan scored his third goal of the quarter with 39.2 seconds left in the game.

Jack McNallen won the faceoff - the junior won 18 of 23 on the day - and the Cardinals got two chances at tying the game, but Burke made a big save on a shot from Astarita. Bishop Guertin turned the ball over and couldn't get possession back before time ran out.

"We know we have to play our best to beat Bishop Guertin," Sweet said. "I know how disappointed they are. Nine straight fistfights it's been and we've been fortunate to come out on top. Every year, Guertin gets closer and closer, and they're a quality team. We view them as a peer in lacrosse to us."