DANVERS — Three streaks ended as the sun finally faded behind the trees outside of Glatz Field Thursday night, and they had as much to do with what the St. John’s Prep lacrosse team didn’t do as much as what visiting BC High didn’t let them do.
The Prep’s 17-game winning streak, its 29 consecutive victories in Catholic Conference play, and its 52 straight triumphs against opponents from Massachusetts came to a sudden halt as the Eagles were knocked off by league rival, BC High, 5-4.
“We were awful,” Prep head coach John Pynchon said bluntly. “This is certainly a wake up call for our guys.”
In a battle of the state’s top two ranked squads, St. John’s Prep went nearly three full quarters — 35 minutes and 19 seconds, to be precise — without scoring against a BC High defense that played to near-perfection. By the time the hosts’ Bo Minogue tallied with nine minutes to go, BC High had a stronghold on the proceedings and a 5-2 lead.
“One goal in three quarters? It was terrible,” admitted Pynchon, whose team (now 4-1) attempted just eight first half shots.
“We weren’t taking smart shots, and even on good opportunities we were shooting it low. (Assistant) coach (Jeff) Dube made a great scoring report for the boys and said ‘Don’t shoot it low’, but what did we do? Shot it low.”
That’s where BC High goalie TJ Emsing shined. He finished with 13 saves, with eight of those coming over the final 24 minutes of play.
“It all starts with Emsing for us being the center of our defense; he trusts our poles a lot,” said BC High (now 5-0) head coach Marcus Craigwell, whose team beat St. John’s for the first time since May 2023 … the last time the Eagles lost to both a Catholic Conference opponent and one from the Commonwealth itself. “And I think that was the best our D-middies have played.
“We made the plays we needed to in the end,” he added. “That’s the different between this year and previous years; making that play to give our offense one more opportunity. They chipped away, but the defense made that one stop we needed.”
St. John’s Prep and BC High share more than a mascot; in addition to playing each other in conference play twice a season, the two Eagles have met in the Division 1 state final in four of the last five seasons, with St. John’s Prep winning each time. That includes last June, which which SJP captured an 8-7 overtime win at Mass. Maritime Academy.
On this occasion, though, the team that played more consistently throughout came up with more big plays were the Eagles from Dorchester.
Junior attack Beckett Lee gave St. John’s an early 1-0 lead before the offense went stagnant. BC High, meanwhile, got three goals from Enzo Serio and two more from Nathan Rogers, leading 3-1 after one period and 4-1 at both halftime and with a quarter to play.
“We were hesitant, definitely stagnant,” said Pynchon, whose club also hit four posts. “I thought there were some opportunities we could’ve attacked better. A lot of times it was one dodge and then shoot; that’s not our offense.
“But if you shoot the ball like we did tonight, you’re never going to win a lacrosse game, ever.”
While the black throated wind kept on pouring in, St. John’s Prep tightened up defensively in the second half, then made an offensive run in the fourth quarter. Minogue, Connor Mitchell and, with 2:13 to play, Thias Tolo all scored to make it a one-goal game. But the hosts had trouble maintaining possession after that, and BC High celebrated wildly on enemy turf when the final horn sounded.
Mattheus DuPlessis, who split goaltending duties with fellow senior Max Putney, had six second half saves on seven shots. Faceoff man Will Crawford was also solid, winning 10-of-13 draws.
“You never want to play not to lose; we wanted to win. We wanted to win convincingly,” said Craigwell. “It’s not easy to win here. It’s good for these guys’ confidence that we can play with anyone in the state.
“Ton of respect to St. John’s Prep; they’ve done it before, they’ve proven to be the No. 1 team. We’re the No. 2 team, but we can be the No. 1 team if we play our game and play hard.”
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