After completing the first undefeated season in school history, Staples abruptly bowed to visiting St. Joseph, 10-7, on Saturday in the FCIAC boys' lacrosse quarterfinals.
"We didn't play with the passion we usually we do," a despondent team co-captain Kip Orban said following the game.
Whatever the case, No. 7 seed St. Joseph managed to deal host Staples its shocking first defeat of the season.
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It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Wreckers, who had gone 16-0 and were seeded No. 2 in the FCIAC playoffs.
Wreckers Coach Paul McNulty remarked, "St. Joe's played great; they outplayed us. Whenever there was a ground ball there were more St. Joe's players around it than we were."
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For the first three quarters, the game couldn't have been any closer with each team essentially matching goal for goal.
Staples jumped on the scoreboard early when Charlie Ross tallied his first goal of the day less than two minutes into the contest. The junior attackman went on to register a hat trick on the afternoon.
That goal was answered three minutes later by the Cadets' Pat Corcoran, who also scored three for the day.
Neither team seemed able to get the upper hand with scoring, faceoffs or takeaways. The first quarter ended with the teams knotted at a goal a piece.
In the second quarter, the Wreckers outshot the Cadets by a 2-1 margin, but at halftime the game was tied at 3-3. Staples Austin Waiter and Nate Greenberg tallied the Wreckers two goals in that quarter, and Corcoran and Tom Dellamarggio scored for the Cadets.
The score shifted further in the third quarter. Wrecker Jeff Kelly drilled a devastating over-the-shoulder shot in the back of the net, and Orban and Ross also found the back of the net. The Cadets, however, managed to claim a one-goal lead into the final quarter, and that was when the tide truly turned.
St. Joe's goalie Tim Izzo was brilliant in the fourth quarter, turning away several point- blank shots, flummoxing the Wreckers' offense.
St. Joe's reeled off four unanswered goals. Ross' goal for the Wreckers with 3:27 was too little, too late.
"We had some good chances; they just didn't go in – and theirs did," McNulty said. "We're still a very good team."
"They won the middle of the field, but we'll learn from our mistakes and play better in the state tournament," Orban added.
