SEAMUS CABLE (20) celebrated a game-winning goal with his Warriors in a 10-9 OT win over Danvers on Monday. (File Photo)
DANVERS — The Wakefield High boys’ lacrosse team came back from three goals down with two minutes left in Danvers on Monday in their penultimate game of the season to force overtime and eventually win it, 10-9.
The tying goal was scored with 45 second left by Brady Walsh, sending a thriller to OT where Seamus Cable got the game-winner with about 30 seconds remaining.
In a game that required both the defense and attack to step up, it was JP Casey who knocked down an early pass in OT and allowed the offense to stay patient and take some time off the clock before Cable netted the game-winner.
The Warriors weren’t at their best in the beginning, but they eventually settled in.
“It was a rocky start, the Danvers goalie made some great saves to keep us off the scoreboard but the team continued to battle and chip away, keeping things simple and no one panicked,” said Wakefield head coach Andy Wells. “At halftime, we made some adjustments on offense and our defense did a really good job of clogging up the middle of the field and forcing Danvers to shoot from the outside which made things easy for Zach Courtright in net.”
As for their 3-goal, late comeback, Wells pointed to the ride of the attackmen which forced turnovers and gave additional offensive possessions to the road Warriors.
“That gave us some extra juice in the last few minutes to be able to tie it up,” said Wells.
Gabe Guida had a clutch groundball off a faceoff which led to another goal and the defense pressured as well, led by Casey, Josh Whitman and Ryan Metsis who all had numerous pass knockdowns and takeaways to get momentum back on the side of Wakefield.
“The two plays of the game were from Christian DiFlorio — who made an incredible one-handed catch by our bench while we were a man down which allowed us to call a time out and draw up a play where Cable eventually scored off a great pass from Matt Keefe — and on the ride from Walsh and Reid Festel to get the ball back with under a minute left, which led to the Walsh goal that eventually sent the game to OT,” said Wells.
A comeback of that magnitude is very rare in lacrosse, as it requires relentless effort from all players to get possession combined with perfectly executed offense.
It was the type of lacrosse that the team will want to replicate as they get ready for the Div. 3 state tournament.
Wakefield concluded their regular season with a loss to 14-3 Marblehead yesterday, finishing the campaign with a record of 7-10.
Realigned from Div. 2 to Div. 3 this year meant that the majority of Wakefield’s games were played against opponents in higher divisions. That means with their 7 wins, the Warriors have done more than enough to earn a spot in the state tourney where they will get a chance to knock off one of the top squads in D3. The Warriors were ranked No. 23 in the latest Div. 3 power rankings. The bracket will be released on Wednesday and the tournament will begin on Friday, May 31.
