Trinity boys lacrosse takes control in fourth quarter to beat Campbell in D3 playoffs (video)

MANCHESTER - Possession isn’t everything in lacrosse, but it sure is close.

The Trinity High School boy lacrosse team dominated it in the fourth quarter Thursday and it’s a big reason the Pioneers are still alive.

Down by a goal heading into the frame, Trinity had the ball on offense for almost seven minutes, going on a 3-0 run and the Pioneers' defense held in the final minute to give them an 8-7 win over Campbell in the Division III preliminary round at Derryfield Park in Manchester.

The win sends Trinity (11-4) to the quarterfinals, where the Pioneers will host Pelham, which defeated Milford, at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

It was also the team's first win over Campbell (12-3) this season, after the Cougars won two games in the regular season, and it snapped their 12-game winning streak.

"That’s what a championship game feels like, with the fans, people yelling, screaming, the intensity of both teams," Trinity coach Mike Martinez said. "It had that feel. Our guys, being down entering the fourth, we knew what the task was. We basically moved the ball around, we probed, and we had our mindset to find the best matchup. It was back and forth, but we had talked about doing a better job holding possession."

That started with sophomore Brady Watts, who won 13 of 19 faceoffs, including five in a row to start the fourth quarter. Watts also had a goal while Evan Flannigan had two goals and an assist and Tate Flint scored twice, with both coming in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

Dillon Brown added a goal and an assist while Austin Pepin and Brennan Walsh also scored. Nick Guerra made six saves for Trinity and Lucas Frazier also had an assist.

Campbell got four goals and two assists from Brendan Boschi, including one with 2:33 remaining to get the Cougars back within a goal. Andrew Willnus, Jack Noury and Drew Adamakos also had a goal apiece while Ryan Guerrette made 17 saves.

"He played lights out," Campbell coach Josh Knight said of Guerrette. "Some of those saves he was making … I’m glad some people have now had the opportunity to come out and watch him. I think he’s one of the best. The kid saves anything and everything, and he kept us in the game."

Trinity held a 47-28 edge in shots and turned the ball over just 10 times compared to Campbell's 18. But the Cougars led 1-0 after one quarter and had an answer for every time the Pioneers scored in the second, taking a 4-3 lead into halftime.

"What they were doing? No. 13 in net," Martinez said of Guerrette. "He is if not the best goalie, he is equally up to being the best goalie. That kid was amazing and he should be given all the credit, because he withstood all that we had."

Adamakos scored early in the third quarter to give Campbell a 5-3 lead but Trinity answered less than a minute later on a goal by Flannigan to keep it a one-goal game.

It was still 5-4 at the start of the fourth, when Watts scored 1:14 into the frame to tie it. Trinity got the ensuing faceoff and worked the ball around, drawing a stall warning. The Pioneers went right at the goal, with Pepin scoring to give them their first lead of the second half.

Brown scored with 7:06 left to make it 7-5 and Watts won another faceoff, but Trinity turned the ball over with 5:37 left, giving Campbell possession for the first time in the fourth.

"Hats off to Brady Watts," Knight said. "It’s tough to win a game when you’re not winning faceoffs in the fourth quarter. I thought our kid played some of the best faceoffs Brady’s seen all year and he was beating him. I’ve got to give credit to Nick (Carignan), he was battling."

Willnus scored for Campbell to make it a 7-6 game with 4:36 remaining, but the Pioneers went back up by two on a Flannigan goal just 25 seconds later. Boschi's goal got the Cougars back within one and Campbell won the faceoff.

Guerra made save on the Cougars' first shot attempt and another one went wide, but Campbell was able to keep possession and took a timeout with 1:01 left.

"We had been practicing for Campbell with a modified zone, basically with a hedge to double team (Noury) off any rollback and make sure that our slide did not get off (Boschi)," Martinez said. "For that last timeout, we were like press (Noury) and let’s make the ball not get in his stick and someone else has to do something. It worked."

A shot missed the mark and Campbell kept possession with 27.4 seconds left but the Cougars were unable to get another attempt and turned the ball over in the final seconds.

"You’re all set up and you know what you want to do, and then they come out with something different and make adjustments," Knight said. "It turned into an adjustment battle. It’s tough."