CREVE COEUR -The Priory Ravens hoped to strike gold by advancing to the semifinals of the Class 2 state tournament for the first time in program history.
Senior Lance Lavery found the shiny nugget.
Lavery knocked down an attempted CBC pass in the final minute and Myles Garcia-Eidsness collected the resulting ground ball as Priory held on to defeat the Cadets 8-7 Friday in a Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association Class 2 quarterfinal at Todd Stadium.
“I don’t pick off many passes as a short stick, but I read the pass and threw the stick right up there,” Lavery said. “We call that a nugget.”
Priory (12-4), which advanced to its first final four in Class 2 since the MSLA playoff format changed in 2017, will travel to SLUH (12-5) in one semifinal matchup.
SLUH defeated Priory 7-5 in their regular season meeting on April 5.
MICDS (14-5) will host De Smet (8-8) in the other Class 2 semifinal. The Rams and Spartans have met in the Class 2 championship game the previous four seasons.
Priory seemingly had the quarterfinal game in hand Friday after taking an 8-4 lead into the fourth quarter, but CBC played its best 12 minutes in the final frame.
Within the first three minutes of the quarter, Alex White jumped and snuck a shot under the crossbar, and Jayden Buchanan sped from behind the net and scored as CBC sliced the deficit to 8-6.
Four outstanding saves by junior goalie Anthony Zilak prevented Priory from responding before CBC sophomore Phil Jakubowski launched a rocket from distance to make it a one-goal game with 2:06 remaining.
“We went back to the identity of the team – playing really fast, earning the middle of the field – and that’s where we thrive,” CBC coach Mike Liebreich said.
Moments later, Buchanan clanged the goal post with a missile from 14 yards away, and after CBC retrieved the ball, Liebriech called timeout with 1:06 remaining to set up a play for a potential tying goal.
“We just had to finish strong,” Priory defender Myles Garcia-Eidsness said. “Our defense was kind of selling the game in the fourth quarter. Three goals (allowed) in the fourth quarter is not what we want to be doing, but we knew the last minute, we had to lock down.”
CBC worked the ball behind the net, where Lavery read the eyes of the passer, stuck out his stick and earned his nugget. Eidsness-Garcia scooped the bouncing ball and Priory headed to the final four.
“We rely on our defense and they played really well,” Priory coach Tyler Orf said. “They were on hands when they needed to be, they slid hard and they were communicating. It was fitting that we ended this one with our defense.”
While the Priory defense supplied the exclamation point, Mick Murphy provided the question mark.
Murphy emerged from behind the net, took three steps, made a spinning jump and fired a shot past Zilek in a move called a ‘question mark’ due to its shape. Murphy scored three goals in the first half, including another highlight-reel goal while lying on the turf.
“It’s the practice I put in,” Murphy said. “I practice those shots as much as I practice any other shot, so when it comes to a game like this when I have good defenders guarding me, I have to use any trick I have.”
After Murphy’s hot start, CBC chose to lock him down by having a defender faceguard him in the offensive zone. It allowed junior Jack Parent and senior Grant McGowan to spread the field and attack downhill.
McGowan scored twice in the second quarter and helped Priory open a 5-2 lead.
“When Mick gets locked, that just means other guys have to step up,” McGowan said. “We work as a team on offense and that’s our goal. I tried to do my part, Jack Parent tried to do his part.”
McGowan earned his hat trick early in the third quarter, then set up sophomore Sam Jung with 1:35 remaining to give Priory an 8-4 lead heading into the fourth before CBC made its ferocious run, which included three goals and a gonged post before the rally ended with Lavery’s nugget.
“This team showed a lot of character, so much heart. They battled until the end and I’m so proud of them,” Liebreich said. “It really was a great game, one of the best games I’ve been a part of. Unfortunately, we were on the other end.”
Priory won a Division II championship in 2016 when the state tournament was structured differently. In the last eight years of the new playoff model, this is the furthest the Ravens have advanced in the Class 2 bracket.
It is the second historic accomplishment in the last three months for Eidness-Garcia, who scored 13 points in the Class 3 District 5 championship game against Whitfield to help Priory win its first district title in basketball since 1969.
“It’s just a great way to end my high school career,” Eidness-Garcia said. “Obviously in basketball, we hadn’t done that in 55 years so that was amazing, but (lacrosse) is my sport, and I’m so proud of all the guys who come out here every day and put in the work to get here.”
Orf added, “The boys are excited. It’s a big deal.”
Photos can be found at benvessa.smugmug.com.
