With the Wildcats down a man in the final 32 seconds because of a penalty, senior goalie CJ Haag out hustles the Explorers for the ball in back of the Saint Ignatius goal as time expires. Plays like that helped seal the 'Cats' first appearance in the lacrosse state final four since 1995. Saint Ignatius head coach Pat McManamon '96 was a junior mainstay on the 1995 team.
In what was a match up of two of the premier programs in Ohio, Saint Ignatius extended its winning streak to 11 games and improved to 17-1 overall by avenging a 17-11 regular season setback at Hudson. The Explorers ended their outstanding spring at 19-2.
*Here is the full story on the Wildcats' cast-of-thousands contributors and the gritty five-goal effort by Hudson's Zachary Vehar.
Hudson, Ohio - As the legendary Tom Petty sang so smoothly and with conviction: "I won't back down."
That was the attitude the 2013 Saint Ignatius lacrosse team carried into Hudson on Saturday afternoon.
And when the afternoon was over, one thing was certain. The Wildcats and the Explorers, two of Ohio's model programs, left it all on the turf inside the impressive facility that is known as Memorial Stadium.
"Everybody looks at the score (11-10) and says wow, that's a huge offensive game," said Saint Ignatius' All-American senior defender Joe Cillo. "It's really the defense that keeps us in it. CJ Haag is having a great year in the cage. The first time we played Hudson (on April 23) we didn't execute the way we wanted to on defense. We were allowing them to have the crease on the inside.
"This time we made sure not to let them have that crease," Cillo continued. "We said going in that we would take the outside shots (from Hudson) and that CJ would take most of them, which he did. So we really just executed this time."
Cillo concurred with his head coach Pat McManamon in emphasizing how important it was for the Wildcats to not only match Hudson's physicality, but to take it to a higher level.
Talent, toughness and heady play reigned supreme, as the Wildcats and the Explorers exchanged momentum-changing blows throughout the elite eight encounter.
Saint Ignatius, which will face Dublin Jerome in Wednesday's 7 PM state semifinal at the College of Wooster, battled Hudson on even terms in a first half that ended in a 2-2 tie.
Junior midfielder Jake Maruna and gifted junior attacker Mike Vitale scored the Wildcats' first two goals and junior All-American attacker Bo Lori and junior midfielder Mick Mougey helped show the say for the Explorers with first-half tallies. Lori entered the game with a Hudson all-time, single-season record of 119 points (71 goals and 48 assists).
With senior Brian Hartnett and junior John Bodnar helping key Saint Ignatius' defense, Coach McManamon's team moved to a 5-2 lead with 4 minutes and 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter. That three-goal advantage was built on another goal by Vitale off an assist from the endless energy of senior attacker Danny Hennessy, a strong move for a goal by senior midfielder Mike Avdey and the trademark powerful left-handed shot by Mike's brother, Steve Avdey, a freshman midfielder.
It was at that point Zachary Vehar, Hudson's senior midfielder, began to take his game up a notch or two, or three or four or five.
Ripping home two of his five second-half goals, Vehar had the state's third-ranked Explorers back on the right path and trailing, 5-4, with 3:16 to go in the third quarter.
Just six seconds later, the Wildcats, ranked fourth in Ohio by laxpower.com, responded with a fast break and an athletic assist from Hennessy that resulted in a goal by All-American senior midfielder Garrett Joseph. Saint Ignatius rode Joseph's goal to a 6-4 lead entering what was a wild and extremely entertaining fourth quarter.
"Face offs and defense, that's all we did in practice, face offs, face offs, face offs," said Coach McManamon. 'They killed us in transition (back on April 23) and we were not going to let them beat us in transition. I think they got one today and the last game they had about seven. That was the key."
That and the Wildcats' ability to counter punch everything Vehar and the Explorers threw at them down the stretch.
Five seconds into the fourth quarter, Hudson's Academic All-American Adam Coberly made it a 6-5 game.
With the large and lacrosse savvy crowd responding to every move, Saint Ignatius pushed its lead back to two goals when Maruna alertly picked the ball off the ground and fired it to the back of the net with 11:11 left to be played.
The Explorers weren't ready to be turned away, however, as goals by Lori and Vehar knotted the score at 7 with 10:04 remaining. Vehar fought his way through the middle of the Wildcats' defense for his hat trick.
Vitale got right back in the flow of the exchanges and also scored for the third time on the afternoon. After steals by Hartnett and Maruna, Hennessy sent home a shot in a blink of an eye and the 'Cats were again in front by two, 9-7, with 5:42 left.
After Vitale answered a goal by Hudson's Zach Nye with his fourth net finder and Mike Avdey scored his second goal, Saint Ignatius appeared to be taking command with an 11-8 lead and 2:38 remaining.
That kid named Vehar refused to go away quietly, however, as his fourth and fifth goals cut the deficit to 11-10 with 2:01 to go.
With fans from both schools on their feet, the Explorers, with a man advantage, were hovering around the Wildcats' goal and looking for that promise land of overtime.
However, as we described in the lead-in first paragraph, the big-hearted Haag hustled to save the ball behind the goal as the final seconds were ticking off the clock.
Vitale, who has been on fire offensively throughout the postseason, points to his move to attacker as the major factor in his recent flow.
"I think it complements my speed off my dodges and it opens up more when I get a step on the defender," Vitale said. "I can look for feeds and that really opens up the offense for our whole team. It has progressed to where we're at full strength right now."
Coach McManamon, who has now reached the state level as both a player and a coach, emphasized that he definitely appreciates it more now and all of the hard work that goes into it.
However, if you talk with some of his players, they will tell you that their coach is still a kid at heart. Forever young, if you will.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE, THIS OLD-TIMER WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS HIS DEEPEST CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2013, WHICH WILL BE GRADUATING ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. I HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO GET TO KNOW SO MANY OF YOU OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS AND WISH NOTHING BUT THE BEST FOR YOU AS YOU MOVE ON TO ANOTHER MAJOR STEP IN YOUR LIVES.
MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS, MR. DWYER.