Notre Dame-bound Quinn Cully scored six goals to power Duxbury to its sixth consecutive state lacrosse title, 13-12, over St. John's Prep in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 finals at Harvard Stadium in Boston.
With Cully masterfully weaving his way inside to score five goals in the first half - all unassisted - the Dragons (19-3) roared to a 10-5 halftime lead.
The Dragons other star midfielder, Hakeem Lecky (headed for NCAA Division I champion Syracuse), notched three goals. Just 1:30 into the second half, Lecky got past a defender on the right and on the run zinged in a shot from 10 yards out for an 11-5 Duxbury advantage.
But the Eagles (19-3) rallied by putting the clamps on the high-powered offense of the Dragons. And with the persistent work of Garrett Campbell (three goals, one assist), John Jennings (two goals, one assist), Ryan Harding (one goal, three assists) and Colin Blackwell (one goal, two assists), the Eagles sliced the lead to one.
In a man-down situation, Campbell turned inside and whirled around for a shot from the outside to cut the deficit to 12-11.
On a 2-on-1 breakaway, Dragons goalie Makar Zaverucha (12 saves) was confronted head-on by Blackwell, but turned away the potential game-tying shot.
Moments later, Duxbury capitalized when Matt Hetherington scored in front on a 5-yard jump shot with 5:07 left for a 13-11 lead.
Jennings scored with 1:39 left, but the Dragons ran out most of the clock behind Cully and Lecky.
Jake Harvey added three assists for the champions.
Eagles goalie Nicholas Valenti had 10 saves for St. John's Prep.
The win avenged a stinging 12-10 defeat to the Eagles at home that halted the Dragons' chance at winning an unprecedented 100 consecutive games against MIAA competition.
"Although that 99-game win streak was crushed, coach Sweet said right after that game, 'All we want is a state championship. All we want is six,' '' Cully said. "That was our chant going into the fourth quarter."
"We asked a lot of our defenders to keep Jennings and Campbell in check," Duxbury head coach Chris Sweet said. "We put it on the defense to win the game and they did. But Quinn was unbelievable. He carried us all year and he carried us tonight."
Division 2: Walpole and St. John's to clash in final
Eric Proos and Nick Yacuzzi each scored five goals as St. John's overwhelmed South Hadley, 15-1, in the MIAA Division 2 state semifinals at Foley Stadium in Worcester.
Walpole relied on the goal scoring of Kyle Guilbert (four goals, two assists) and Ryan Izzo (three goals), and a strong defense to get past Concord-Carlisle, 11-7, in the other state semifinal at Harvard Stadium.
Walpole (23-1) and St. John's (19-3) will contend for the MIAA Division 2 state title on Friday, June 12, at Foley Stadium.
Division 3: Scituate repeats
Kyle Crowley scored on the first possession of overtime to lead Scituate (17-5) to its second straight Division 3 state title, 7-6, over Dover-Sherborn (15-6), at Harvard Stadium.
Crowley had three goals while goalie Jeff Williams made 15 saves for the Sailors.
Division 1 Girls: Westwood and Longmeadow to meet in championship
Misha Beatty scored six goals for Westwood in a 15-6 victory over Framingham in the Eastern Massachusetts Division final held at Wayland High School. The Wolverines (22-1) went on a 11-goal run to pull away from the Flyers (21-3) who had kept it close until the barrage.
Shea Kusiak and Laura Halpern combined for nine goals and four assists to pace unebaten Western Massachusetts champion Longmeadow (19-0) to a 15-7 victory over Central Massachusetts titlist Westborough (14-5-1).
Longmeadow will meet Westwood in the state title game on Friday at Foley Stadium in Worcester.
Division 2 Girls: Surprising Norwell emerges with state title
Molly Cox and Kate MacDonald each scored five goals for Norwell (17-5-1) in a 15-6 win over North Andover (19-5) to capture the MIAA Division 2 state title.
As a No.11 seed in the Division 2 South playoffs, Norwell had stunned No. 6 Bishop Stang, 22-9; No. 3 Mansfield, 12-4 and No. 2 Duxbury, 18-16.
