BURLINGTON — How could the Div. 1 boys state finals pit anyone other than powerhouses St. John’s Prep and BC High again?
On Sunday, the two programs met in the championship for a third straight year, and the latest chapter in the storied rivalry was far and away the greatest. Junior attackman Jake Vana buried four goals and dished out a pair of assists, while Jimmy Ayers (five goals, assist) also provided a massive spark as top-seeded St. John’s Prep overcame a four-goal fourth quarter deficit en route to capturing its third consecutive Div. 1 lacrosse title with a stunning 16-14 victory over BC High at Burlington High School.
“This was a wild game,” said St. John’s Prep coach John Pynchon. “I’m just so proud of these seniors. After we lost to (BC High) up at our place, we had a pretty emotional meeting. We brought a photo in of the team from last year. (I said) to the seniors: ‘That was last year. Forget it. We want to go get another one.’ I’m just so proud… it was a dramatic, great lacrosse game.”
While the comeback was incredible, St. John’s Prep (22-1) got off to a sluggish start, and the Eagles struggled mightily with containing BC High (20-3) attackman Patrick Maroney. The senior buried three goals in the first quarter alone, providing his team a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The entire game was a series of runs however, and St. John’s Prep responded in the second quarter. Ayers and Vana sniped consecutive tallies to open the frame, helping the Eagles draw even at 4-all with 9:29 left in the half. Ayers would go on to net two more goals in the stanza, helping St. John’s Prep build a slim 8-6 lead at the half.
Then, BC High erupted in the third quarter. Nolan Hurley tallied a pair of goals in the frame, including one with four seconds remaining. Then in backbreaking fashion, St. John’s Prep surrendered one more goal at the horn, as Shane McDonnell won the ensuing face-off and fed a pass to Will Emsing. The Tufts commit sniped twine, and BC High had a 13-9 lead entering the fourth.
“It could have been really easy to say: ‘Well, we already won the last two years, it was their year, they were bound to win it,’” Vana said. “But no. We did a full team huddle. We didn’t split into offense, defense. We came together, we all looked at each other. Our slogan is: ‘Together, we are enough,’ where we don’t need any outside help.”
Then, the Eagles staged a rally for the ages. Vana and Ayers opened the final frame with a pair of goals, before Nathaniel Jones added his name to the scoresheet to cut it to 13-12 with 9:24 left.
With 3:08 to play, Ayers buried the equalizer, before Matthew Morrow registered the go-ahead and eventual game-clinching goal with 2:42 left. Vana iced the game with an open-netter with 40 seconds to play, sealing the latest title for the Eagles.
“That’s what a true team does,” said Vana. “When your back’s against the wall, they make it count. That’s what we did today. I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”