RallyNorth.net

Mon, May 12, 2008 04:00 PM @ St. John's

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
Xaverian	3	1	4	1	9
St. John's	3	4	2	1	10

Prep clinches share of Catholic Conference title

Monday, May, 12 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

DANVERS | Talent. Intensity. Winning tradition.

If you were to make a list of all the things the Xaverian lacrosse team has, you'd start with those three qualities.

What the Hawks don't have | after St. John's Prep shot out to a three-goal halftime lead with a strong second quarter, then held on for a tense 10-9 victory at Cronin Field | is a shot at winning the outright Catholic Conference title.

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins would have been proud of the way the Xaverian coaching staff approached the final three huddles in the second half. Hawks' coach Tim Garnder and his crew spit fire at the players during every break after intermission, reminding their team that, as defending league champs, they had something to defend.

The ploy worked as Xaverian, which fell behind 8-4 early in the third quarter, ran off three straight goals and trailed by only one (9-8) heading into the fourth quarter.

Brendan Grant deposited his third goal of the game for the visiting Hawks early in the final quarter to knot the score at 9-9, but the Prep's John Jennings swooped in from around the net to score the game-winner for the Eagles with 6:21 left.

The Prep defense did the rest, locking Xaverian down to ensure the Eagles get at least a share of the conference title.

St. John's can win the league outright with a win over Malden Catholic Thursday.

At halftime it seemed like the Prep might actually be able to pull away, but the Xaverian (13-3) team that played the second half started hitting harder, scooping up more ground balls, and scoring more frequently.

"The thing about these games is they're emotional," Prep (12-2) coach John Roy said. "Because they're so intense, the kids might stop doing what they're supposed to be doing because they get caught up in the heat of the moment."

Xaverian's Ryan Abely certainly seemed to get caught up in the emotion. He took a strange penalty at the very end of the first half while attempting to throw a pass the length of the field with time winding down. The ref ruled Abely made no attempt to send the ball downfield, instead whipping the ball directly at the Prep's Garrett Campbell.

Abely spent a minute in the box with an unsportmanlike penalty on that occassion, and later picked up a two-minute break for delivering a viscious below-the-waist check on Mark Scalise that nearly flipped the Prep attackman.

Cheap shot or not, the hit seemed to fire up the Hawks, who scored a man-down goal just about a minute later to cut the Eagles' lead to 8-7.

The way the Prep played in the third quarter was the exact opposite of their effort in the second quarter.

After a 3-3 first period, Campbell reeled off three straight goals and Jennings potted one to push the Prep advantage to 7-3.

"We just decided we were only going to take shots that we knew were going to go in," Scalise said. "We gave up the 50 and 60 percent shots and started putting in the 80 percent shots. And the defense cleared the ball really well in the second quarter, which gave us a lot of opportunities."

The defense was the one constant for St. John's.

While Campbell, Jennings, and Scalise made sure the Prep offense dominated in the second quarter, it was Brogan O'Connor, Santo Dettore and John Whitney who were steady throughout on defense. Goalkeeper Nick Valenti also made some key stops down the stretch to make sure the Eagles held on.

"They tightened up on us in the second half. I think that has something to do with our inability to clear the ball on key possessions. That's something that we've been working on, but still plagues us a little bit," Roy said.

"O'Connor, Whitney, and Dettore, I love having them back there. It's not just stopping and covering; it's also getting the key ground balls. They have to get the ground balls and (they're responsible for) legging it up a little bit. They have good ballhandling skills, so it's nice having them back there."

Campbell and Jennings each finished with four goals and one assist for the Prep, while Scalise had one goal and two assists. Tucker Garfield also scored for St. John's.

Grant had three goals and three assist for Xaverian, and Abely, Chris Rigoli, and Garrett Buckley each scored two goals.

St. John's is in good position for postseason positioning among Division 1 teams, but the Eagles still have unfinished business in the conference.

"Malden Catholic has surprised us in the past," Roy said, "so we have to be prepared and not let down."