NAPLES — After two regular season defeats to St. Andrew’s, Benjamin boys lacrosse rode a runaway fourth quarter to win the one that mattered.
The Buccaneers defeated the Scots, 13-11, in a Class 1A state championship rematch, successfully defending their title and completing a program-defining three-peat.
After watching their Palm Beach County counterparts hoist the trophy each of the last two years, No. 1 nationally-ranked St. Andrew’s will have to spend another year lamenting ‘almosts’ and ‘what-ifs.’
The Buccaneers’ trophy case, meanwhile, is looking just a bit shinier.
Entering Saturday’s state championship rematch, Benjamin head coach Duncan Clancy knew that his Buccaneers hadn’t given St. Andrew’s their best game during two regular season defeats, acknowledging the two earlier matches had “really frustrated and motivated this group.”
The Buccaneers put words to action, leaping to a four-goal lead in the first quarter, befuddling the top-seeded Scots on both sides of the field.
But as games between these two squads so often go, a one-sided affair was simply not meant to be.
St. Andrew’s roared back into contention, finding the back of the net three straight times in five minutes of second-quarter action.
The game shifted once more.
The Bucs would find their groove again, courtesy of leading goal-scorer, Jack Kelleher, whose final score staked Benjamin to a 6-3 halftime advantage.
Halftime conversations must have borne fruit for the Scots, for whatever head coach Tony Seaman and Co. said, the Scots came out in the third and squeezed back-to-back goals — via Mateo Moran and Cooper Crone — past Benjamin’s Tatum Little.
The Bucs wouldn’t let them take the lead, however, finding another slim advantage through Sawyer Fasano following a close-range save by Little, with Matt Null buying some breathing room to open the fourth quarter.
The goal of the game might have been a result of some trickery from Campbell Hogan and Null.
Hogan came across the perimeter behind Null, who faked a pass to his senior teammate before pivoting and firing a laser past Theodore Loucas.
The goal staked Benjamin to a 9-6 lead inside of nine minutes to play and opened the floodgates for additional goals from Mac Johnson, Kelleher, and Null, and Jack Hansen.
The Scots rallied for five late goals, but the comeback attempt fell short in a 13-11 title victory for Benjamin.
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Benjamin boys lacrosse beats St. Andrew’s, three-peats as state champs
Reporting by Alexander Peterman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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