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| St. Paul’s Brycen Kennedy makes a pass to an open teammate for a goal during Thursday’s WCLC final against Lewis Mills at Watertown High School. The Falcons won 18-16 and captured their first WCLC title. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
“Those who stay will be champions.”
Those were the words of St. Paul boys lacrosse head coach Chris Kennedy during some tough days early on in his tenure. When Kennedy and his staff took over three years ago, the focus was on rebuilding the program and playing a different way.
In this third season under Kennedy, the Falcon rebuild has led to a boom in success. St. Paul went 15-1 in the regular season and was the top team in the Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference.
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| Game MVP Chris Dionne gets ready to rip on one of his three goals during Thursday’s win. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
That was goal No. 1 for 2018. Goal No. 2 was checked off the list on Thursday afternoon when the Falcons defeated rival Lewis Mills 18-16 in the WCLC championship final at Watertown High School. When the final buzzer sounded, the team in the home whites erupted onto the Watertown turf in celebration. Tons of hard work paid off.
St. Paul is soaring into the Class S state tournament as its top seed. The Falcons have a first round bye and await the winner of No. 16 Montville and No. 17 Tolland next Saturday at 3 p.m. on McPhee Field.
That brings us to the third goal of 2018: a state tournament win. St. Paul is 0-4 all-time in state tournament games, including 0-2 under Kennedy. The Falcons are looking for their first taste of state success, and what better way to do it than at home in the first state tournament game the program has ever hosted.
Anyone who knows local lacrosse is aware of the three-headed offensive monster of Tucker Raymond, Brycen Kennedy and Kevin Ashworth. What makes this St. Paul team especially dangerous, however, is that there is way more to its success than just three players.
Eight Falcons made the All-WCLC team. Ashworth and Kennedy were the consensus No. 1 players in the league. They made the team at attack, along with Raymond. Chris Dionne and John Ivers, who played key roles in the WCLC final victory, were chosen for midfield. Connor Bogdanski and Damien Rabis were picked for defense. For faceoffs, David Harrold was the choice.
St. Paul lost Harrold to a broken leg, but Dionne stepped in and has held his own, including some tough work in the final.
“We lost David Harrold, and no way we’re in the position we’re in without him,” Kennedy said. “Chris Dionne just stepped in there and he just a pitbull.”
It was Dionne’s pair of goals that extended a slim St. Paul lead to 14-10 in the latter part of the third quarter. Ivers scored the last goal of the quarter for a 15-10 advantage.
It was Dionne again for the first goal of the fourth quarter and a 16-10 lead. When Lewis Mills rallied to within 16-13, Ivers had the pivotal response with two straight goals.
St. Paul hadn’t seen much in the way of adversity this season, outside of the lone loss, 13-8 to Northwest Catholic. That’s why the heat gets turned up so high in practice, because close games are what the postseason is all about.
“We knew eventually we would be in this situation,” Kennedy said.
At one point, Lewis Mills, which lost twice to St. Paul in the regular season, tied the game at 8-8. Back-to-back goals from Ashworth sent the Falcons to halftime with a 10-8 lead.
Anyone who thinks double-teaming Ashworth, Kennedy and Raymond is the way to go may want to think twice. This team is very unselfish, moves the ball well, and finds the open man. At one point, St. Paul made several passes before Kennedy found Ivers at the front right of the goal for the score. It was a thing of beauty, and a testament to teamwork.
Kennedy told the team he hasn’t seen this kind of camaraderie in a team since St. Paul’s football co-op made the postseason in 2009 and nearly beat state power New Canaan on the road.
Only time will tell how successful this Falcon boys lacrosse team will be.
GALLERY: Here are my photos from Thursday’s game.
