Galvin's OT goal puts Plymouth boys lacrosse past Campbell, into D3 final

LACONIA – Plymouth High School boys lacrosse senior Nolan Galvin really didn't know what he was going to do late Thursday afternoon.

There he was with the ball and some space on the left side over a minute into overtime.

Should he take the shot? There was a teammate behind the goal, so if he missed the Bobcats would keep possession. Or should he rotate the ball around again.

“I didn't really know,” he said. “I just saw the guy (a teammate behind the goal), I'll just go to the goal and see if I can score. If not, my teams got us. I was just going to go. Somebody's always there to back it up.”

So he let it fly, and it found the back of the net past Campbell goaltender Will O'Brien to give the No. 2 Bobcats a thrilling 7-6 overtime win at sun-splashed Bank of NH Stadium to land them in the Division III finals vs. No. 1 Coe-Brown Northwood here Saturday at 6 p.m.

It's the second time in program history Plymouth will play in the title game and first since 2021.

The way the game started, a chance to win the game in overtime was the furthest thing from anyone on the Plymouth (14-2) sideline's mind as the No. 6 Cougars (13-6) stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the game's first 7:21.

But they were outscored 7-2 the rest of the way. Campbell led 4-1 at halftime, but the Cougars were scoreless in the second quarter, as the teams combined for 28 first-half turnovers.

“I think we got too ahead of ourselves a little bit, and lost focus there,” Cougars coach Harrison Urda said. “I think they were able to get a step on us a little bit more, off dodges, we weren't in quite the right position. And momentum is a killer.”

“It certainly was a flat-footed start,” Plymouth coach Glenn Mausolf said. “But there's a reason why you play four quarters. Give credit to (Campbell), they came out fired up and ready to go, and it took us a little bit just to find our footing.

“We saw some opportunities and we knew that we could play better. That's what we were discussing at halftime. Despite on how things started, we were only down three.”

Campbell's Evan Molino, Scott Hershberger, Tyler Breton and Cruz Sandquist were the goal scores in that opening period barrage. Plymouth's Cooper Legacy scored the first of his two goals on the day with 2:17 left in the first half to get the 'Cats on the board.

Peyton Long scored a minute and a half into the third quarter to make it 4-2, and it stayed that way until Breton's second goal made it 5-2, a lead Campbell took into the final quarter.

But they would only manage one more goal, thanks in part to Plymouth netminder Cullen McNair (five saves). Long and Legacy got things to within 5-4, the latter right off a Cougar turnover (they had 20 for the game).

It was answered only by Cougars' Matthew DeCarli with 8:20 to play, giving Campbell a two-goal cushion again, 6-4. But that would be their final goal.

Some 40 seconds later Galvin scored his first goal to make it 6-5, and it stayed that way for over three minutes until Plymouth's Sage Upson finally got the equalizer for the Bobcats with 4:07 left.

Neither team could produce a goal the rest of regulation, thanks mainly to turnovers.

“Both teams certainly had their share of miscues,” Mausolf said. “The defense was able to stabilize, and we were able to just keep playing on and keep persevering.”

Plymouth almost had a chance to win it in the final seconds of regulation, but a long pass to Upson bounced off his stick into the basket of O'Brien, who was fantastic on the day with 10 saves. But the Bobcats won the faceoff to start the sudden-death OT and a couple of minutes later, Galvin made his decision.

It turned out to be the right one.

“Nolan certainly played a key role, but it was a total team effort,” Mausolf said. “You look back at some of the hustle plays between the boxes, some of the ground balls, the clears, guys hustling back to stop fast breaks, I'm extremely proud of this team, the fact they kept fighting to the full 48 minutes and beyond.”

Tom King is a staff writer for the Nashua Telegraph.