As Head Coach Gary Cintron said after Friday evening's Regional Final, sometimes you have to win ugly.

The process was not necessarily pretty, but the workmen-like Wildcats grinded out a victory over Hudson at Green Memorial Stadium, 12-11.

The Saint Ignatius prep lacrosse team thus won the Region 2 Championship and advanced to Wednesday's State Semifinal. 

All in attendance in Uniontown on Friday could sense the beginning of a grind-it-out contest soon after the opening whistle. Merick Hartley began the scoring at 10:56 of the first on a nice bounce shot, but the Explorers quickly responded just 45 seconds later. This began a series of lengthy possessions by both teams that spanned the entire first quarter. 

The Explorers grabbed their first lead of the game with 7:56 following a healthy possession. Noah Catanzarite quickly evened the score. Hudson then took the lead back at 3-2 before Kyle Katigbak finished off the first period scoring at 4:46. 

In response to the Explorers' strategy, the Wildcats slowed the game down considerably in the second. Cintron told his team to pass the ball around the arc and look for the openings in the Hudson defense. To the Explorers' credit, they stood tall, with the exception of a beautiful Michael Boehm lefty ripper from the near side. Hudson also scored once to end the second quarter at 4-4. 

"Usually what happens is we have a plan, we stick to it for about 5 minutes, they do them, and we have to corral them back in and get them to run the plan," Cintron said. "When they run the plan, we're unstoppable."

Hudson opened the scoring in the third quarter with a marker at 10:40, snatching the 5-4 lead. But then the Wildcats' offense picked up steam quickly. Connor Cmiel galloped down the field and did it all by himself with a goal at 7:34. A few minutes later, Jack Welcsh turned a near-turnover into a quick-strike rocket of a goal for the Wildcats' first lead since early in the contest. 

Ian Flynn placed momentum squarely into the Wildcats' lap to end the third, with a marvelous bounce shot with 48 seconds left in the stanza. The perfect goal sent the teams into the break with the Cats on top, 7-5.

The fourth quarter proved to be wild. The teams combined for 11 goals, almost as many as the squads combined for in the first three periods. 

Thanks to nice faceoff work from senior Anthony Ameo, the Wildcats wore down the Explorers with a long possession at the onset of the fourth. Michael Boehm exploited single coverage with a dodge and a lefty sidewinder shot that beat the goalie on his left side. It was a thing of beauty that changed the dynamic of the game. 

"Michael is the strongest player on our offensive end," said Cintron. "We use him as much as we can, sometimes as a hinge guy to get the ball in and out of X. Other times, we use him as a decoy to draw two so we can swing the ball and get a step down on the backside."

Another one of the team's strong offensive players, Merick Hartley tallied a quick goal just moments later, making it 9-7 with 6:39 left. In the span of two minutes, the lead expanded to four goals, with a tally by Flynn off a rebound and a patented Ameo goal shortly after a faceoff win. 

Hudson responded with a tally, but Boehm notched his third goal of the game not long after. Boehm fired a missile from the slot around the 20-yard line to set the score at 12-8 with 2:30 remaining.

The final 150 seconds took a lifetime for Wildcats fans. The Explorers refused to give up the ship, scoring three times in the waning moments. Hudson brought it to within one, 12-11, with 7 seconds remaining. A tieup at the faceoff circle bled the remaining time and allowed the Cats to survive and advance to the State Semifinal.  

"Win and move on, that's it," said Cintron. "This is a stepping stone, this means nothing unless we bring home the final trophy. What we've gotta do is work on consistently playing the way we're capable of playing. If we play the way we're capable of playing, I think the final stop is the championship game."

The next step for the Wildcats is Dublin Coffman on Wednesday. The Lax Cats will battle the 21-1 Shamrocks at 7:15 pm at Wooster High School, the site where the Wildcats edged Olentangy Liberty in the State Semi in 2017.

The winner of the Cats vs. Shamrocks showdown will face the winner of St. Xavier vs. Worthington Kilbourne contest. Kilbourne upset Upper Arlington on Friday, 8-7, while the Bombers beat Archbishop Moeller handily, 17-5.