That is one of the many catchphrases used by the Monsignor Farrell Lions lacrosse team in 2024. Oakwood School has fallen short against league powerhouse Kennedy Catholic in the championship game for the eighth straight year. But the Gaels looked strong right away, taking the lead 3-0 at 5:49 in the first quarter and pouncing on Steve Lyman’s squad.
But this time, in a match that would be decided in the final seconds, the Lions would prevail.
With just 1:01 remaining in the game, Justin Rodriguez unleashed a vicious backhand shot that found the back of the goal, giving the Lions the lead and sparking a frenzied celebration among players and spectators as the team won their first CHSAA A Archdiocesan championship since the 2012 campaign.
Kennedy defeated Farrell by the same score in their first meeting of the season, which ended in a 7-6 final. This was the exact same result as the two teams’ championship matchup from the previous year. In their second match, the Lions would prevail 10-6.
An emotional Lyman said, “I can’t even put into words the meaning of this for me and the boys.” “We weren’t playing our best lacrosse at the beginning of the year because we were dealing with some stuff.” But we only wanted to change the course of events, and these youngsters didn’t stop fighting for the entire year.
He continued, “Kennedy is a great program and a great team every year.” But I’m really happy for our boys. There was really no panic, even with three goals down early. We had faith. And we found the necessary spark after the break.
The entire game, Kennedy followed Farrell, who was leading scorer Jimmy Sparacio, so the Lions had to look elsewhere for a spark to ignite their offense. Keeping a man, and occasionally two, in front of the talented southpaw Farrell was a very effective strategy for the Gaels, who limited the senior’s touches and forced him to settle for only one goal and two shots on goal.
The Lions’ lead was reduced to 4-2, however, when Sparacio scored the only goal of the second half.
The intermission saw some impassioned remarks from Lyman and his staff, and the Lions came out of the break a new team.
man in a face-off On the first draw of the third, Connor Finn wrestled the victory and wandered towards the goal before putting in a goal to make the score 4-3. After forty seconds, Rodriguez blasted a shot beyond the net after receiving a feed from Noah Garcia, and the score was tied 4-4.
Garcia’s goal just one minute later gave the maroon and gold team their first advantage of the match, 5-4.
“My goal was to escape the face-offs quickly and take control; that was our plan. After that, I tried to avoid their checks, but on that goal, I brought it behind and beat the LSM to the cage and scored,” the sophomore Finn said. “I’m just happy to win this for the seniors, even though I know they defeated Farrell a number of years ago.”
Kennedy was not going to retire gently as he pursued title No. 9. The teams would trade goals down the stretch, with star attacker Finn McConnell tying the score at 5-5 with his third goal of the contest. At the 5:01 mark, Rodriguez responded with his second basket of the game, but Ryan O’Reilly countered a few seconds later with a terrific close-range jump shot.
With less than two minutes remaining, Lyman called for time as the Lions, who were playing keep away, got a break and took possession in Gaels territory.
“We saw certain looks that we wanted to attack because they were excluding Jimmy (Sparacio), so we did just that,” Lyman said. “Considering he is only a sophomore, Rodriguez had a tremendous play there. It’s simply an amazing sensation.
“We searched the entire game for that look, and at last, we found it,” Rodriguez remarked. “We understood we had to adjust, but I was anxious because they were benching such a key player as Jimmy. He scores a lot of goals, so I’m glad I could help out today.
The Lions had to avoid one final Kennedy run, so they weren’t entirely off the hook. However, Mike Budano, the team’s mainstay throughout the season with 14 saves, stopped a potential tying goal at the 38-second mark, giving the Lions possession to finish out the clock and ignite the exuberant championship celebration that had been building for nine years.
NOTES: The Lions will play an opponent to be chosen next week in the state tournament. Rodriguez had the most shots on the team with seven, followed by Garcia and Dylan McDonnell (two assists) with four each. Joe Ciurcina, Nate Leverock, and James Geritano all made excellent defensive plays for MF. With four ground balls, Finn also had the most, followed by Anthony Matteo, George Vuoso, and McDonnell, who each had two. The opening goal for Farrell was scored by Thomas Laurenzano. In 1995, Farrell also took home a title under Jim Allocco, the program’s creator.
