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06/04/2014 12:00 AMIt may not have come away with the SCC title, but Guilford boys' lacrosse certainly gave the reigning champs all they could handle before Fairfield Prep took the crown for the fourth-straight year.
The No. 2 seed Indians, coming off three consecutive one-goal decisions in which they won two, fell 8-5 to No. 1 Fairfield Prep in the SCC Tournament final on May 29 at West Haven. The Indians grabbed a 4-3 edge in the second, yet the Jesuits scored four straight tallies before tacking on a late one in the fourth.
"The effort was on their part defensively, because it's not easy to play these guys, who are one of the better teams in the state," said White. "When they play and move the ball that quick, we have to adjust, because we don't see that type of lacrosse that much. But effort-wise, there's not much more you can ask for. We held them under 10 goals, which is really exceptional."
Sophomore netminder James Bright stopped 16 of Prep's 24 strikes at the net and was able to withstand the furious offensive pressure of the Jesuits behind a very tough Guilford defensive outing.
"Defensively, our effort was great; James played and great and when he's on, there aren't many goalies in the state better than him, and he was on tonight" said Head Coach Brian White. "Prep is good enough where you have to stem the tide a little bit, and they will get their looks, and I think that once that happens, you have to respond a little bit; to a certain degree we did and we didn't."
Bright stopped many early shots for Guilford (10-8), yet Fairfield Prep (13-5) struck with a goal at the 9:21 mark of the first by Burke Smith. After an Indians' timeout, junior Frank Ranfone evened the game at 1 following a turnover for the 6:43 juncture of the opening period.
Just over two minutes later, Smith put it past Bright again to help the Jesuits regain the lead at 2-1. Prep was called for a slash at 1:25 remaining, and Guilford (22 shots) took full advantage with a score from junior John Altieri after an assist from senior Eric Zergiebel to tie the game with 32 ticks remaining as the first 12 minutes concluded.
In the second frame, the Indians took the lead 2:08 into it with a tally by sophomore Will Dacey from sophomore classmate Rob LoRicco, but the Jesuits answered less than a minute later thanks to Austin Sims. LoRicco gave the Indians a 4-3 edge 7:46 before halftime off a Dacey feed to force a Jesuits' timeout.
Sims continued the back-and-forth scoring spree 29 seconds later to knot the contest at four, and then Chris Brown gave Prep the lead right back at 5:50 on a ball that hopped into the cage to induce a Guilford timeout.
The Jesuits padded their command at 6-4 at 75 seconds later via a swipe by Colby Monachino. John Edmonds scored with 13.2 before the break to give Prep a 7-4 lead at intermission after four unanswered tallies.
During the opening moments of the second half, Bright started it with a stop, although Guilford began to commit a few turnovers in its own zone but didn't surrender a score and went through the third unscathed.
As the final period began, Dacey tried to cut the deficit with a strong, early chance, but to no avail. Ranfone scored on a rebound at 9:51 to play to make it a two-goal battle. With seven minutes left and on a man-advantage, Guilford put on the pressure, yet couldn't send one home. Prep then sealed it with 1:14 to go on a goal to move ahead by three and earn its fourth-straight championship.
Before this matchup, the Indians defeated No. 3 North Haven 4-3 in the semifinal round on May 28. Guilford next began the Class M State Tournament with a first-round matchup with Ledyard on June 4.
"We just have to tell our players to put that effort forth every single time and that we will only get better when we have success, and that's what we have to do," said White.