Peter Smyth (left) and Adam Johnston are pumped up after Johnston found the net for St. Paul's School Friday afternoon. The Crusaders ended the season with a 9-7 victory over Boys' Latin in the 88th meeting between the long time rivals.
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Hundreds of fans and alumni braved the dreary weather conditions Friday afternoon to witness the latest chapter in the storied rivalry between St. Paul’s School and Boys’ Latin. Like the majority of the previous 87 meetings, the raucous crowd was treated to a classic bout.
Trailing at halftime, the Crusaders ran off six unanswered second-half goals while holding Boys’ Latin scoreless for 21 minutes to pull away with a 9-7 victory. It was St. Paul’s first win over the Lakers since 2004.
“I’ve never beaten B.L in a varsity sport. This kind of makes you forget about the rest of the season,” said Crusaders senior Peter Smyth. “We could make the playoffs, but even if this is our last game its feels great just to beat B.L.”
Smyth, a Princeton-bound midfielder, was instrumental in the Crusaders (10-10, 4-6) second-half surge, scoring two of his three goals 90 seconds apart to start the fourth quarter, putting St. Paul’s up, 7-4. Senior Adam Johnston, who contributed assists on Smyth’s fourth quarter scores, also found the net twice in the final two quarters.
“We came in this game with a lot of emotion,” said Johnston. “We had dropped a few on the road and it feels good to get one finally, especially against B.L.”
St. Paul’s trailed the Lakers (13-7, 4-6) 4-3 at halftime, but tied just 54 seconds into the third quarter after Johnston’s first goal. Matt Lunnen’s low-trajectory shot found its way passed Boys’ Latin goalie Eric Tillman with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter, giving the Crusaders the lead.
Smyth wasted no time extending the Crusaders’ advantage with two goals within the opening couple of minutes. St. Paul’s added goals from Johnston and Tyler Feeley.
“When we had them on the ropes we attacked a little more and I thought that was an important part because that’s when we jumped up big,” said Crusaders coach Rick Brocato. “In a game like that, to have a five-goal surge is pretty important.”
The Lakers managed to cut into St. Paul’s lead with 2:41 left in regulation when Wells Stanwick found a cutting Eric Smith in a man-up situation. Although St. Paul’s fell short of making the MIAA A Conference playoffs which starts next week, the Crusaders ended the season with a sense of accomplishment.
“This game was all about us. We tried to not harp on it being their senior day, we just tried to concentrate on St. Paul’s,” said Brocato. “For us to come away with a win against a well-coached team and a wonderful program like Boys’ Latin was really special.”
St. Paul’s School 9, Boys’ Latin 7
Goals: StP – Smyth 3, Linkous 1, Feeley 2, Lunnen 1, Johnston 2. BL – Rice 4, Feild 2, Smith 1.
Assists: StP – Lunnen 1, Larkin 2, Linkous 1, Johnston 2, Fountain 1. BL - Thibeault 2, Rice 1, Walsh 2, Stanwick 1.
Saves: StP – Loverde 9. BL – Tillman 9.
Halftime: Boys’ Latin 4, St. Paul’s 3.