By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – Trailing by four goals early in the third period against Lewis Mills on Monday, the Bristol Coop Lacrosse squad wrangled off five straight goals to snare an 8-7 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation.
But the Spartans nabbed two late goals, including the final one by Owen Yagid with 1:21 to play as Mills snuck out a 9-8 victory from Alumni Field on the campus of Bristol Eastern High School in a CCC South battle.
“It was very competitive,” said Bristol coach Bill Els, noting that the previous two Eastern matches were decided in overtime. “It was like ‘okay, here we go again.’ Everybody really dug in. I’m really proud of the way they played.”
Eastern’s Chase Dauphinee (two goals) scored a quick goal just 1:54 in and with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter, Aiden Collins had a straight-on attack – jamming in the second score of the evening as Eastern led 2-0.
There was plenty of back and forth action from there with the Bristol defense, led by Connor Akerley, Jake Warszawik and keeper Max Stavens (17 saves), saw the Spartans hanging around the outer rim of the Bristol goal box and away from the net.
Stavens added a slick save seconds after the first Collins goal but off the rebound, the Spartan’s Jack Stanislaw fired a shot in as the deficit was trimmed to 2-1.
Bristol’s Vinny Howley showed some fire up front late in the first frame and then it was Ian Reardon’s (two goals) turn to score.
His attack on the goal with 49 seconds to play in the first propelled the home team to a 3-1 push and was the score of the match after one period of play.
Mills responded with a score right off the bat in the second stanza as Stanislaw dropped in another goal, trimming the deficit to 3-2 with 11:14 before the half.
And then Yagid tied things up seconds later at 3-3 as the Spartans were on the attack.
With 5:50 remaining before the half, Yagid found Stanislaw for a quick goal as the visiting contingent grabbed its first lead of the match at 4-3.
Cole Ronalter missed two straight shots moments later but Mills kept the pressure on, leading to a strike and score by Stanislaw with 4:41 left in the second quarter, the Spartans had tallied four straight goals to grab a 5-3 edge.
“He’s good,” said Els of Stanislaw. “He’s actually going to Wesleyan (Els is a long time coach for the collegiate program). We just couldn’t stop him a couple times.”
Stavens made a neat save with 3:34 left as Eastern went on the attack with Jayden Glasper just missed out on scoring.
On the flip side, Stanislaw made a big move towards the Kingstreeters’ net, powering another ball in for his third straight goal to help his team capture a 6-3 lead.
The home team still trailed by three (6-3) at the break but came out sizzling on both sides of the turf.
However, forty seconds in the third quarter, Ronalter bulled his way to the net and just got a ball by Stavens as Mills ramped up its sixth straight goal to make it a 7-3 contest.
That’s when Bristol took over the match.
Finally, with 9:26 left in the third, Brady Bell (three goals, two assists) had a wraparound score, beating his defender and then splashing the ball in from the opposite side and added another tally seconds later.
And with less than eight minutes showing on the clock in the third, Bristol was in it – down 7-5.
A connection from Reardon to Bell just fell short and a Collins blast also missed pay dirt as the showdown was becoming a bit chippy.
Bristol was clearly winning the battle in the third period and with 3:04 remaining, Bell found Reardon for a goal, making it a 7-6 match.
And then the play of the game came and went as the home team tied the affair up at 7-7 after four unanswered goals.
Stavens passed a long ball up to Mateo Demarco who tossed it over to Reardon.
Reardon found a breaking Bell for the tying goal with two minutes to go in the third to make things even-steven.
“It was not just one guy that did well today, all 15 guys who played today, everybody played to their potential,” said Els. “But we still have to get better every day.”
Entering the final 12 minutes of regulation, it was a brand new match at 7-7 and Bristol kept up the attack.
With 9:53 left in regulation, Dauphinee added his second goal to the till, leading to a fifth unanswered score as Bristol suddenly led 8-7.
The Spartans missed several shots at the net as Bristol’s defense was holding firm.
Mills was forced to call a timeout with 5:05 remaining as the squad had not scored in over 17 minutes of game play.
But Stanislaw finally generated the game tying score, sprinting in from the left side of the goal and smashing the ball in with 4:02 left, tying things up at 8-8 as the scoreless drought came to an end.
Bristol used a timeout with 2:35 left in the fourth, attempting to put together a game-winning drive.
Eastern lost the ball late and another call for time was issued with Mills in control of the ball.
The Spartans threw it away, quickly got the ball back and with 1:15 remaining, Yagid swung one final score in – giving Mills the lead at 9-8.
Bristol just missed a shot with 50 seconds remaining, Mills tried to play keep away but lost it with 23 seconds left, forcing the coop to call timeout.
A late shot by Dauphinee just went wide as Mills hung on to dear life to secure an improbable 9-8 win in Bristol.
“I can’t complain,” said Els about the 9-8 final. “We just didn’t score enough goals.”
NOTE…Dylan Brown led the Bristol coop in ground balls with eight while Mark Palamar and Jake Warszawik each added four.
Bristol Boys Lacrosse Coop – CCC South Action
LEWIS MILLS 9, BRISTOL 8
from Alumni Field, BEHS
Scoring 1 2 3 4 – F
Lewis Mills 1 5 1 2 – 9
Bristol Coop 3 0 4 1 – 8
Goals – First Quarter
*Chase Dauphinee (Bristol), 10:06
*Aiden Collins (Bristol), 2:58
*Jack Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 2:42
*Ian Reardon (Bristol), 0:49
Goals – Second Quarter (Bristol led 3-1)
*Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 11:14
*Owen Yagid (Lewis Mills), 10:15
*Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 5:37
*Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 4:41
*Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 2:51
Goals – Third Quarter (Lewis Mills led 6-3)
*Cole Ronalter (Lewis Mills), 11:20
*Brady Bell (Bristol), 9:26
*Bell (Bristol), 7:59
*Reardon (Bristol), 3:04
*Bell (Bristol), 2:00
Goals – Third Quarter (All tied up at 7-7)
*Dauphinee (Bristol), 9:53
*Stanislaw (Lewis Mills), 4:02
*Yagid (Lewis Mills), 1:21
Scoring – Bristol Coop Scoring
*Ian Reardon – Two goals, one assist
*Aiden Collins – One goal
*Brady Bell – Three goals, two assists
*Chase Dauphinee – Two goals
Ground Balls
*Ian Reardon – One
*Jayden Glasper – Three
*Vinny Howley – One
*Mark Palamar – Four
*Mateo Demarco – Two
*Jake Warszawik – Four
*Jack Hartley – Two
*Dylan Brown – Eight
Saves
*Max Stavens – 17 saves (six in the fourth quarter)
Records: Bristol Eastern 4-1 overall; Lewis Mills 3-0.
