Photo by Paul Halfacre
KIRKWOOD – As the Pioneers leading scorer, Kirkwood sophomore Cooper Terry was performing perfectly fine in his position as an attackman.
But in an effort to throw a curve ball into the Howell United defensive game plan, Terry became a midfielder on Thursday.
He may be staying in that role permanently.
Terry scored the game-winning goal in a wild, double overtime thriller as Kirkwood withstood a furious fourth quarter charge and a stadium power outage to defeat Howell United 9-8 in a boys lacrosse game Thursday at Kirkwood.
Kirkwood (3-5) won for the ninth consecutive time against Howell United, including an 11-10 thriller in the regular season matchup last season.
The game Thursday featured the only two Black head coaches in Missouri boys lacrosse, Alfonzo Brown of Howell United and Chris Luckett Sr. of Kirkwood, who coached many of the players on the field on their Gold Rush club team over the summer.
The familiarity with opposing personnel and each other prompted both coaches to unveil a few tricks, including the change of position for Terry.
“Before the game, Coach (Luckett) moved me to middie just to switch it up on their coach,” Terry said.
On the double-overtime goal, Terry emerged from behind the net, circled out to the 30-yard line and looked for a matchup with a short-stick defender. Then, he began his journey downhill.
“I felt the (defender’s) stick, I felt the pressure, and once I got away from it, I saw a lane and took it,” Terry said.
Terry’s shot found the inside of the net and set off a jubilant celebration for the Pioneers.
It was a celebration Terry appeared to have jumpstarted an hour earlier with his go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter.
Tied 5-5, Terry stayed at the top of the formation, avoided long-pole defenders and fired a laser from 20-yards away. It prompted a flurry of offense from the Pioneers in which senior Evan Cleveland scored from the side of net, and 6-foot-9 senior Ryan Buesching powered through the Warriors defense to give the Pioneers three goals in 72 seconds and a three-goal lead.
“Once we scored that first goal, our offense found the chemistry,” Terry said. “Before that, we weren’t really running our offense, but we started to move off ball and we got better looks.”
Trailing 8-5, Howell United (2-1) needed its own surge and Aidan Tobey provided the spark. Tobey snuck around the back of the net, pinballed off a defender and scored with under two minutes to play. A bouncing shot by junior Chase Montgomery sliced the deficit to 8-7 with 58 seconds remaining.
“It just clicked, and the moment they scored with 58 seconds left, they knew they were going to come back,” Brown said.
A steal in the midfield by Howell United senior Aidan Nicholson prompted a timeout and set up a final possession in which the ball eventually settled into the stick of senior Cole Walther with 5 seconds remaining.
“The way we drew it up in the huddle is not how it worked out. We missed the rotation, but to be honest, I feel safest when it’s in my hands,” Walther said.
Walther rose in the air, spotted an alley and unleashed a bouncing shot that snuck inside the far post to tie the game with 3.3 seconds remaining.
“I knew I was short on time, but I just tried to put it on net and hope that something happens and I ended up scoring,” said Walther, whose goal completed a three-goal comeback for Howell United in the final 1:58 of the fourth quarter.
In overtime, Brown pulled an ace from his sleeve, reinserting Nick Crussel at the faceoff dot against Kirkwood specialist Graden Jensen, who had dominated faceoffs at a 92 percent clip throughout the game.
After two quarters away from the dot, Crussel returned in the fourth quarter and won an important faceoff during the Howell United comeback and both faceoffs during the overtimes.
“I knew Graden was going to (take faceoffs) the whole time, so I was just trying keep fresh legs to go against him,” Brown said. “We needed Nick and he stepped in for us.”
In the final seconds of the first overtime, Howell United junior Chase Montgomery rang a shot off the inside of the goal post that sent a gasp through the crowd and sent the game into a second, 4-minute overtime session.
After Howell United secured the faceoff, a steal by Kirkwood senior Javier Wise prompted a Pioneers’ timeout and gave both teams a chance to talk over strategy – in the dark.
In a poof, the lights in the stadium went completely dark, and it took 16 minutes to restore power.
The delay may have helped the Pioneers, which seemed to be experiencing their own power outage since midway through the fourth quarter.
“I think it might have been a blessing in disguise,” Luckett said.
Howell United never gained possession after light was restored, as Terry cashed in the game-winner 1 minute 8 seconds later.
“(The blackout) was the most unfortunate event that could have happened,” Walther said. “We were hot. We had the momentum for sure.”
In the first half, no team enjoyed a two-goal lead as the Warriors and Pioneers exchanged haymakers, often very quickly.
Twice Jansen scooped up a faceoff and scored exactly 12 seconds after Howell United had tied the game. The second rapid-response goal gave Kirkwood a 4-3 lead at intermission.
“To be honest, I didn’t think either of my goals went in. I just thought they hit the net,” Jansen said. “Normally, it’s going wide because I’m trying to get it repossessed on a chase.”
Senior Chris Phillips scored in transition to give Kirkwood its first two-goal lead before the Howell United defense helped the Warriors pull even again.
An interception on a 3-on-2 Kirkwood break by Nicholson led to a goal by senior Drake Morrissey. Then, Morrissey intercepted an errant pass and scored a breakaway goal to tie the game at 5 to begin a wild fourth quarter that included a pair of 3-goal flurries, and eventually, a double-overtime winner for a player in a new position.
“We’re finding our roles on this team, and I guess I found my role today,” Terry said.
