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5/28/2009- Lacrosse
St. Mary's boys lacrosse defeats Notre Dame Prep 8-4
By ROSS MAGHIELSE
Special to The Oakland Press
PONTIAC — Despite an hour-long delay due to stormy weather, the intensity remained vibrant in Wednesday’s Division 2 regional semifinal boys lacrosse game. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s held off Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and claimed an 8-4 victory.
The Eaglets (16-4) gradually climbed to a 5-1 lead before Notre Dame Prep made its run. A spirited fourth-quarter surge from the Fighting Irish cut St. Mary’s lead to 5-4 with four minutes left to play.
A late-game scoring spree by the Eaglets, who scored three goals the next three minutes, secured the win.
“We’ve played a very tough schedule this year,” St. Mary’s head coach Greg Normand said. “When you play a tough schedule like we do and go through those wars in the regular season, it prepares you for playoff time. Give Notre Dame (Prep) credit, they gave us a heck of a game, but we’re a well-tested team.”
Other talented teams the Eaglets have played this year include Worchester, Ohio, U-D Jesuit and two games against top-ranked Birmingham Brother Rice.
With the win, St. Mary’s advances to the regional final. It will play either Grosse Pointe North or Warren De La Salle on Saturday.
“I don’t care which team we play,” Normand said. “We’ve already faced both these teams (Grosse Pointe North and De La Salle) in the regular season and beat them both. It should be a little easier because they play a more traditional style of lacrosse. They don’t pack it in to a zone defense like (Notre Dame Prep) does, so I think our speed will give us an advantage.”
Drake Chwalibog scored two goals and had one assist to pace the Eaglets’ offense. As a team, the Eaglets fired off a total of 51 shots and controlled possession for the majority of the night.
“We average around 48 shots per game anyways,” Normand said. “This season we’ve been averaging 15 goals as a team but tonight we had too many shots that didn’t even hit the net. They played well defensively, but sooner or later we have to hit the net with more of our shots.”
Penalties really hurt the Fighting Irish, especially in the first half. St. Mary’s led 3-1 at halftime and all three goals came with a man-up advantage.
“I think there were a few missed goals out there,” Notre Dame Prep coach Ben Ingram said. “The kids battled and played pretty well, though. There’s nothing we can do but send the same kids out there each night. I felt our man-down defense played well, given the situations they were put in, but it just wasn’t enough.”
Trailing 5-1 in the early stages of the fourth quarter, Brandon Beauregard broke the silence for Notre Dame Prep. Beauregard scored on an assist from Tom Sardelli, which started the Fighting Irish’s fourth-quarter run.
Christopher Thieda and Tim Robertson followed with goals to cut the Eaglets’ lead to 5-4.
“It just came down to a sense or urgency on the offensive end and we put a couple shots in. We knew it was getting down to show time, so we gave it our best shot,” Ingram said.
St. Mary’s responded well to the pressure and slammed the door on Notre Dame Prep’s season.
Drew Schupbach scored for the Eaglets to make the score 6-4 with 2:51 left on the clock. Tom Pellerito and Taylor Docking each scored a goal in the final 30 seconds to complete the 8-4 victory.
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