Saints Edge Griffins In Fifth-Place Match 7-6 In OFSAA Boys Field Lacrosse Championships

The St. Peter’s Saints (SPSS) led once all game but it was enough for a comeback 7-6 win and fifth place over the host Thomas A. Stewart Griffins (TASSS) in the OFSAA Boys Field Lacrosse Championships on Tuesday.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Griffins came out to a 3-0 start in the first quarter, getting an early lead over the COSSA Champion Saints. They battled back to cut the deficit by one to make it a Griffins 3-2 lead but TASSS pulled away with a goal to make it 4-2 into the first half. Jeff Ralph, Griffins’ head coach knew that any lead against the Saints having played them before is never safe.

“We’ve been up against them before. We knew it was going to be a full 60 minutes to get the win against these guys,” he explained.

The Griffins kept their foot on the gas pedal, quickly scoring in the third quarter to restore their three-goal lead, 5-2. At this point, TASSS had dominated in time of possession and shots on goal.

St. Peter’s displayed their resilience and battled back with three goals to make it a 5-5 game.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs, “ explained Rod Willis, Saints head coach. “You might go on a three or four-goal run so we had to be patient, wait until it came and really take advantage of the situation.”

Both teams had traded goals halfway through the fourth quarter with a 6-6 tie, including a game-tying score from Hayden Addison for the Saints.

With just 6:30 left, Addison scored again to give St. Peter’s the first lead of the game. TASSS pressured hard to try and tie the game. With under a minute left in the game, they had a chance to tie it from a high-scoring chance but Saints goaltender Geordy Addison made a clutch save and St. Peter’s was able to run out the clock for a 7-6 win.

Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Both coaches had respect for their respective Peterborough school counterparts.

“All the credit to them, they have a great team,” said Ralph. “They're very well-coached with Rod McGillis in his last high school game.”

“They're very well-coached,” said McGillis. “They have a couple very, very good players and on offense, a good offense. It's hard to stop. It takes a lot of character and a lot of patience and skill to get back into that game.”

McGills has announced his retirement from coaching following the game.

Both teams had won their first game on championship day in order to play each other for fifth place. The Saints beat the Denis Morris Reds based out of St. Catherines 11-9. The Griffins took down the Neil McNeil Maroons from Scarborough, 8-6.

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