By the slimmest of margins, the Saint Ignatius prep lacrosse team fell short on Monday evening in San Diego.
The Lax Cats could not score in the final seconds, dropping to the No. 1 ranked team in California, Torrey Pines, by a score of 8-7.
The Wildcats fell to 4-2 overall on the year.
The middle match of the Wildcats' 3-game West Coast trip proved to be a hard-fought, end-to-end match. The visitors hung tough with the No. 11 team in the nation (according to Max Preps) but could not duplicate Saturday's 9-6 win over Coronado.
Torrey Pines started out the game strong, winning the opening faceoff. The Falcons poked at the Wildcats' defense for the first minute before scoring at the 10:58 mark on a shot from right in front of the net. After winning the next faceoff, too, Torrey Pines stayed on the offensive until Charlie Minerd thwarted a promising shot and sent the Falcons packing.
The Wildcats then enjoyed possession for the next portion of the first, passing the ball around the arc and testing the Falcons' defense with a few shots. After a relatively quiet back-and-forth stretch, the Wildcats utilized a timeout with 3:14 left in the first.
Following the break, the Lax Cats passed the ball around the perimeter, looking for a crease in the hosts' defense. Not finding much room in the passing lanes, Jack Moriarty decided to do the work himself. The junior scored on a wonderful wraparound, beating the goalie low left-side for the Wildcats' first tally of the match.
The score remained 1-1 after one, though the Wildcats carried a man-up opportunity into the second after Torrey Pines committed an unnecessary roughness penalty with six seconds left in the quarter.
The Wildcats could not convert on the man-up, leading to a Falcons breakaway. On a nice hesitation move, Torrey Pines scored to take the lead. But it would not last for long. Anthony Ameo, the Wildcats' outstanding faceoff man, perhaps the best to walk the halls of Saint Ignatius, won the following faceoff and quickly scored on a ripper from deep to tie the game.
The men of Gary Cintron then took their first lead of the night about a couple minutes later. Moriarty scored his second of the night after a nice feed from Boehm on the left side. To add insult to injury, the Wildcats drew a slashing penalty, enjoying a minute of man-up time following a Torrey Pines timeout.
The advantage did not result in a goal, but the Wildcats did take a few shots and benefitted with some possession time after the teams were even. The Falcons did get the ball back, but missed a chance at a breakaway goal, leading head coach Jono Zissi to burn the team's second timeout of the half with 5:52 left.
The break worked out well, as Torrey Pines tore off two straight goals at 4-minute mark of the quarter, granting the Falcons a 4-3 lead. As a result, the Wildcats called a timeout with 4:26 left to regroup.
The Lax Cats placed a pair of promising shots on net, but the Falcons scored their third in a row with 3:15 left in the half on a transition goal from in close. Torrey Pines kept up the pressure, but a Charlie Minard save eased the tension and gave the Cats a chance on offense. Minard enjoyed a wonderful night in net for the Ohio City Warriors.
Michael Boehm took advantage of some space on the ensuing possession, scoring a dandy of a goal nearly 15 yards out to bring the Wildcats to within one, 5-4, with 1:57 left in the half. Torrey Pines recovered the goal, however, scoring on a nice shot from the far left-side on a ripper with 8 seconds left. The score stood at 6-4 Falcons entering the half.
While the score indicated Torrey Pines in the lead at the end of 24 minutes, the game was definitely even. The Falcons' taking advantage of the Wildcats' occasional turnovers was the difference in the first.
The second half began in an even-keeled manner, with neither squad finding the upper-hand until four minutes into the stanza. Torrey Pines scored on a pretty goal from straightaway with 8:05 left, nabbing a 7-4 lead, the biggest of the night. The Wildcats took a timeout as a result, and it led to some solid possession time and shots for the visitors.
The teams then traded lengthy possessions before Connor Cmiel stepped to the fore. The sophomore dodged and sliced through the Torrey Pines defense in impressive fashion before one-hopping a shot into the net for the Wildcats. The score stood at 7-5 Falcons entering the fourth, with the Lax Cats taking a 2-minute, non-releasable man-advantage into the final quarter due to a Torrey Pines penalty.
The Lax Cats did not convert, but Michael Boehm scored shortly after the teams evened out. The sophomore's second of the game came on a shot from just outside the crease as he was falling to the turf. The tally brought the game to within one, 7-6, with 9:58 remaining.
After a Torrey Pines timeout, the Falcons swooped the ball into the net with 7:33 left to play. The Wildcats responded with a smart possession, as Bain Kurtz found a slight opening and took full advantage with 4:38 left. The senior's goal narrowed the deficit to one once again.
The final minutes of the game turned out to be thrilling. Torrey Pines did manage to kill time before the Wildcats received the ball back with 45 seconds left. The squad took a timeout with 31 seconds on the clock. The Wildcats could not notch the tying goal, however, thanks to an aggressive hit in the crease by a Falcons' defender in the final seconds before the Cats could attempt a wraparound.
After Monday's loss to Torrey Pines, the Wildcats will look to rebound on Wednesday. The Lax Cats will face Loyola in Los Angeles at 8 pm EST. Loyola will have a live stream, available to watch free here.