For three quarters, the Staples boys’ lacrosse team had Fairfield Prep playing scared in the Class L state championship game, with a Wrecker upset of the reigning state champion Jesuits looking likely. A run of six unanswered goals by Prep in the fourth quarter quickly turned the tides, however, and the Wreckers – unable to respond to the sudden onslaught – fell by a final tally of 14-8.
“It was a tough way to lose – being up all game then giving up the lead in the 4th quarter, but they were a good team and had a lot of depth that we couldn’t match,” said Joey Zelkowitz ’13, who racked up three goals. “But we gave them a game for three quarters and showed to the state that we are a team that can play with anybody.”
Zelkowitz and Colin Bannon ’13 set the torrid early pace for the Wreckers, with Bannon scoring less than two minutes after the opening face-off and Zelkowitz adding two more minutes after. Will Johnson ’14 added another to give Staples a 4-1 advantage with less than three minutes left in the third.
“We came out very strong and confident,” said goalie Cole Gendels ’13. “We were able to score a quick goal, and that also helped our confidence grow.”
From there, the match turned into a game of tit-for-tat, with each offensive by a team being matched at the other end by their opponent. When Prep added two goals before the end of the quarter, Staples threw a counter-punch early in the second with another goal from Bannon. Prep quickly battled back to make it 5-4 going into the half. While many saw the closeness of the game as a shock, Staples’ players were not so surprised.
As Gendels acknowledged, coming in they were “considered the underdogs.” Staples had lost to Ridgefield during the regular season, a team that Prep had trounced easily 13-3. Still, according to Gendels, “We felt as if we could beat them.”
And through the third quarter it looked as though these hopes were going to become reality. Jon Pacilio ’14, then Zelkowitz, and finally Bannon all found the back of the net to give the Wreckers an 8-5 advantage. This would be the last time they scored all afternoon, as Prep controlled the game from there out – including the third quarter, the Jesuits would score nine unanswered goals.
While being competitive for much of the game made the loss all the more tougher to swallow, Quinn Mendelson ’13 saw many positives in a season that saw the Wreckers reaching the title game for the first time in school history.
“We left it all out on the field, and in doing so we brought the program to a level it’s never been to before,” he said. “It hurts and that’ll never go away, but we’re proud of the work we put in this season and I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
