CREVE COEUR – Gathered underneath a scoreboard that showed one goal in the home column at halftime, the Priory offense identified the problem.
Then, sophomore Mick Murphy modeled the solution.
Murphy scored three goals including the game-winner, and junior Myles Garcia-Eidsness led an outstanding defensive effort to lead Priory to a 6-4 victory over Vianney Friday at Busch Field.
Priory (7-4), which has won six of its last seven games, defeated its second Metro Catholic Conference opponent in six days (CBC). It is the first time the Ravens have beaten two MCC opponents in the same season since they began playing teams from that conference on a regular basis in 2017.
Goals by Marko Mrnjavac and John Bokern and strong goaltending by Ethan Ramsey helped Vianney take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Both teams were plagued by turnovers, but Priory’s offense looked especially out of sync, with minimal ball movement or purposeful player movement.
“We have a tendency to get stagnant in the offense,” Priory coach Tyler Orf said. “There weren’t really any significant adjustments (at halftime). We just reinforced that we need to be active off ball, move the ball and then move our feet.”
Murphy put that message and his feet in motion.
With Priory sophomore goalie Colin Pim looking for an outlet pass, the attackman Murphy made a back cut, availed himself at midfield and received Pim’s 50-yard pass on a nifty short hop that would have made Paul Goldschmidt nod in approval.
Murphy raced with the ball through the center of the field, drew a defender and found senior captain Cole Joyce, who immediately relayed a pass to junior Cole Clinton for a slam dunk to tie the score.
“It was a good look by Colin, a great handle by Mick, and all of a sudden, we had a little tic-tac-toe,” Orf said. “You wish you could see that seven times a game. Sometimes, you only see it once.”
Once was all that was needed to change the trajectory of the Priory offense.
A caused turnover and ground ball scoop by senior Thomas Journagan sent Murphy on another fast break. This time, Murphy found the twine himself to give the Ravens two goals in 35 seconds and a 3-2 lead.
“I just took it and went,” Murphy said.
The rapid momentum swing for Priory was helped by a stroke of luck. Less than a minute before Clinton’s goal, Vianney senior Bennett Breheny clanged a wicked shot off the crossbar that cleared itself to midfield, denying a two-goal lead for Vianney.
“That was a big swing. That would have been big if that fell,” Vianney coach Jeff Benton said.
Breheny was limited to one goal by an active Priory defense, led by senior Sam Reese, sophomore Wes Harvey, sophomore Deven Creeth and Garcia-Eidsness, who matched up with the talented Vianney attackman on several possessions and prevented him from finding open looks.
“It’s a team thing. We have really solid poles and solid midfielders that come on and do their job, and that’s how we hold a good team to four goals in a game,” Garcia-Eidsness said.
The two quick goals for the Ravens improved the overall flow of the offense as the ball whipped around the perimeter and players relocated themselves. With the Vianney defense also in motion, sophomore Jack Parent found sophomore Eli Foss unguarded in the high slot, and Foss delivered the third Priory goal in less than two minutes.
A lefty rocket from Murphy on the man-advantage gave Priory a 5-2 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We just started doing our job on offense – clearing through, creating space. We shortened up the passes and cleaned up our act in the second half,” Murphy said.
After Parent scored for Priory early in the fourth quarter, Vianney began a valiant comeback attempt. A bouncing shot by Bokern cut the deficit to three goals, and when Breheny faked a shot, took two steps and scored, the Priory lead was trimmed to 6-4 with 2 minutes 51 seconds remaining.
Vianney (5-5) earned several chances with the ball over the final three minutes, but the Priory defense stood firm as Creeth and Garcia-Eidsness forced turnovers to preserve victory for the Ravens.
“Late, we tried to make a push, but we made small, mental mistakes, and in a game with two teams that are pretty close (in talent), it’s going to come down to all those small things,” Benton said.
Priory began the season with a 1-3 record, with close losses against Eureka and SLUH and an overtime heartbreaker to Olathe in Kansas City.
The only loss for Priory during its current seven game stretch is a 9-8 setback to eight-time defending state champion MICDS in a game that Priory had two chances to score in overtime.
“We’ve seen that we can play with anybody and that drives us,” Garcia-Eidsness said.
Orf sees that dynamic, not only in his own team, but across the region.
“I’m excited about Missouri lacrosse right now. There’s a lot of parity. Everybody can play with everybody and it’s fun to see,” Orf said.
