After a game that featured momentum swings, a 3½-hour weather delay and a stunning turnaround in the final minutes, Watterson boys lacrosse coach Chris Sauter said a loss in the Division II state final came down to the simplest aspect.
“They took advantage of our mistakes throwing the ball away,” Sauter said after the Eagles’ bid for a second straight championship ended with a 9-8 loss to Rocky River on June 6 at Historic Crew Stadium. “It wasn’t anything really schematic that they threw at us. They made some plays at the end of the game and we threw the ball away. You can’t score if you don’t have the ball.”
Michael Bebie scored his fourth goal of the game with 9 seconds left, capping a late flurry that clinched the Pirates’ first state championship and an undefeated season. Rocky River (19-0) scored five of the game’s last six goals.
Sophomore attacker Dash Hoy scored three goals for Watterson (18-3), including the go-ahead goal with 2:36 left in the fourth quarter of a game delayed for 3 hours, 32 minutes by thunderstorms.
Five other players scored one goal apiece for Watterson, which led 7-4 early in the fourth after senior attacker Luke Ishmael scored. The Eagles outshot Rocky River 39-17 and won 14 of 20 faceoffs, but the Pirates scored three times in less than two minutes midway through the fourth to draw even.
Ryan Taylor, Bebie and Connor Nesbett all scored in the run, with Nesbett netting the equalizer with 5:10 to go.
Bebie, a St. Bonaventure commit, tied it at 8 with 1:28 left, then in the closing seconds ran directly to the front of the net and fired his last shot past Watterson sophomore goalie Kolt Rundio.
“It’s unreal,” Bebie said. “I had no idea [I was going to shoot it]. It’s just something you dream about.”
The game started 25 minutes after the scheduled 4 p.m. faceoff because earlier storms pushed the Division I final between Cincinnati St. Xavier and Cleveland St. Ignatius, which was slated to begin at 1 p.m., to a 1:40 start.
Watterson sophomore attacker Will Harris scored just 1:03 in, and the Eagles did not allow Rocky River a sustained possession for several minutes after that.
But Bebie tied it on the Pirates’ first shot, and Taylor scored 48 seconds later for a 2-1 lead.
Those were Rocky River’s only shots on goal before the delay, which came with 11:36 left in the first half.
The game resumed at 8:14 p.m. amid mostly sunny skies.
Rocky River got the first goal after the delay from Jensen Boetger, but Watterson took control for the rest of the second quarter, translating five faceoff wins into four goals.
Senior midfielder Drew Dunlap, freshman attacker Kaden Hoy, Dash Hoy and junior attacker Davis Seaman – an Ohio State football commit – each scored once to stake the Eagles to a 5-3 halftime lead.
Rocky River broke Watterson’s run with 1:20 left in the third on a Parker Nesbett goal.
“Most teams might have folded,” Bebie said. “That’s not what we’re about.”
Rundio finished with four saves. Rocky River goalie Gordon Hudson made 13 stops.
“We’re greatly disappointed, obviously,” Sauter said. “We played a very, very good team and when you make mistakes against a good team, you get punched. That’s what we did.”
(This story has been updated with new information.)
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Late goal stuns Watterson boys lacrosse in Division II state final
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
