Staples boys lacrosse comes back, holds off Bishop Guertin (video)

NASHUA - There were a lot of key moments throughout Saturday's game between the Bishop Guertin and Staples high school boys lacrosse teams.

But even with all that happened, the outcome came down to one final shot.

With time running out, Bishop Guertin's Brady Dumont fired the ball low and Staples goalie Josh Marcus went down to get it seconds before the final buzzer sounded, keeping the shot out the net and giving the Wreckers a 9-8 win over the Cardinals at Stellos Stadium.

It was one of 13 saves for Marcus, a junior who is committed to North Carolina, and it's the second year in a row Staples, of Westport, Conn., pulled out a one-goal win over Bishop Guertin after trailing early.

"Josh Marcus is a total stud in net," Staples coach Will Koshansky said. "We’ve been very fortunate. He was a starter for us as a freshman and he goes on to win a state championship his freshman year. He’s been as advertised. Josh is a phenomenal goalie. Huge save with two seconds on the clock."

That save by Marcus came just a little more than a minute after Dumont had scored to make it a one-goal game, ending a stretch of more than 12 minutes without a goal for the Cardinals.

The Wreckers controlled the faceoff after the goal, but turned it over, allowing Bishop Guertin set up for a final play. A slash on Staples with 34.9 seconds left gave the Cardinals a manup situation, but they didn't get a shot off until moments before the final buzzer.

"We ran a play, the guys was wide open, but it’s a sophomore, he doesn’t want to make a mistake," Bishop Guertin coach Chris Cameron said. "But at that point in the game, you’ve got to run the play.

"When you play a team like that, it’s not like we were terrible. They were a little bit better. We had chances where we were up and we just didn’t put them away."

Dumont finished with two goals and two assists for Bishop Guertin (2-2) and Caleb Yeung and Beau Dubois had two goals apiece. Owen King (one assist), Hunter Schmitt and Jeremy Warren also scored while Cam Hayden, Paulo Vazquez and Sean McGarry each had an assist.

Will Murphy finished with 14 saves in goal while Vazquez was 12 of 20 on faceoffs.

Staples (4-3) got two goals and four assists from Adam Udell while Tristan Schaefer scored twice and Charlie Iannone had a goal and an assist. Charlie Clark, Justin Halky, Nick Weil and Hunter Pallai added a goal apiece.

The Wreckers entered the game banged up and Koshansky told his team that guys who don't normally get a chance to were going to have to step up.

"We said every guy on this roster has got to be ready to step up," the coach said. "We played guys, probably five or six guys, that hadn’t played in a game yet for us this year. I’d say probably all of those guys stepped up and made plays.

"Young guys, seniors that have been waiting for their opportunity, so those guys go in there. The added bonus for us, when a guy who has been on our bench goes in and scores a goal, it really energized the whole team."

But it took a while for that to happen, as for the second year in a row, Bishop Guertin came charging out of the gate. Last season, the Cardinals got out to a 6-0 lead before the Wreckers righted the ship.

This time, it was a 3-0 lead for Bishop Guertin less than three minutes into the game. While Staples was able to get on the board not long after falling behind by three, it took the Wreckers time to chip away.

Staples scored with 13.6 seconds left in the first and then again just 26 seconds into the second to tie the game 3-3. Bishop Guertin went back in front and took a 5-4 lead into halftime.

The Cardinals extended the lead to 6-4 to start the third quarter, winning the faceoff and possessing the ball for nearly two minutes before Yeung scored. It stayed a two-goal game until the final six minutes of the quarter, when Staples scored twice in 40 seconds to tie the game.

Dubois put Bishop Guertin back in front with 2:12 left in the third, but two goals in the final 92 seconds gave Staples its first lead, 8-7, going into the fourth.

"I think it was the mindset of chipping away and looking for one play at a time," Koshansky said. "That’s what we talk about a lot, our guys need to be ready to make a play when it’s time to make a play, rather than looking for it."

Both sides had chances to change the score, but Marcus and Murphy stood tall and kept it a one-goal game for most of the quarter. Staples finally went up two goals on Schaefer's second goal, which came off a rebound after Murphy stopped his initial shot, with 4:41 to play.

Murphy came up with another save with under two minutes to play, setting up Bishop Guertin's final push. After a timeout with 1:29 left, the Cardinals needed just 14 seconds for Dumont to find the back of the net to make it 9-8.

Cameron called his second timeout after the Staples turnover, and out of it, Yeung got a look going to the goal, but Marcus made the save. The Wreckers were flagged for a slash on the play, giving the Cardinals a manup opportunity with 34.9 seconds to go, but Marcus would again come up with a stop to end it.

"We have depth, we’re good on defense, but a game like that, it comes down to one play," Cameron said. "We play these games not just to help us get to win our ultimate goal, which is to win a state championship, we play these games to win. The added benefit that we have, it’s fun. We have Staples coming to us at Stellos. It’s a great experience and it’s going to make us better."