Exactly thirty years ago, Jamesville-DeWitt’s boys lacrosse team earned a landmark state championship, establishing a legacy to which the next generation continues to add.
The Red Rams’ fifth state Class B title, but first since 2011, was claimed Saturday at Middletown High School, where a combination of timely strikes, consistent defense and great work down the stretch in the face-off circle produced a 9-6 victory over Yorktown.
Great as J-D’s history was, more recent events had proved frustrating. In 2013 and ’14, the Rams lost in the state title game, and in 2015 it fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Victor.
Yorktown was partially responsible for this pain, the Huskers having edged J-D 10-9 in the 2014 state final at Hofstra University on Long Island.
Now, with a large and partial crowd cheering them on, Yorktown intended to cause more heartache – but J-D, especially the players still around from two years ago, would not let that happen.
It took all of six seconds for the Rams to get on the board. Jack Mulvihill won the opening face-off and sent it downfield, where Griffin Cook put it past Huskers goalie Liam Donnelly.
Yet that was the only time J-D scored in the first period, hurt by the five turnovers it committed. Yorktown controlled most of the possession time, taking 14 shots to the Ram’s six, but did not get a goal until Justin Cavallo’s shot deflected off Dylan Fleischmann past the line in the last minute of the period.
Though J-D fell behind 2-1 in the second quarter, it stayed close thanks to defenders Sam Mueller, Carson LaRussa and Mike Schwedes, whose strong resistance gave the Rams’ attack time to find its rhythm.
Then the Rams’ main line came to life. Ryan Archer converted while taking a hard hit to break a drought of more than 17 minutes, and Cook returned to feed Grayson Burns for the go-ahead goal 1:34 later.
J-D clung to that 3-2 lead at halftime, having saved itself in large part through its collective hustle. Remarkably, of the 16 ground ball, the Rams got 15 of them.
Midway through the third quarter, Archer’s second goal made it 4-2, but Yorktown was far from done. Jose Boyer and Kyle Casey both converted for the Huskers to tie it before Archer returned to complete his hat trick with 1:12 left in the period.
And that gave J-D the lead for good. What helped preserve that lead was Mulvihill winning five consecutive face-offs in the fourth quarter, giving the Rams more valuable possession time – and was a far cry from the face-off struggles the Rams suffered when it lost to Yorktown two years earlier.
Mulvihill’s efforts weren’t wasted. Goals by Cook and Anthony DiGiovanni bridged a tally by Casey, and then Burns chimed in again, scoring with 4:11 to play to make it 8-5, the Rams inching closer to the big prize.
But it had to endure one more Yorktown push. Shane Dahlke scored 22 seconds after Burns converted, and the Huskers won the ensuing face-off, only to turn it over on a controversial offsides call.
That play ended Yorktown’s chances. Huskers head coach Dave Marr protested the call so much that his team was penalized, and after Burns hit the clinching goal with 1:31 left, Marr kept on protesting until he was ejected.
Thus, the Yorktown coach missed J-D’s celebration five years in the making. Helmets, gloves and sticks threw in the air, and by the time they were cleaned up, the Rams were bringing the state championship trophy home, the school’s second this year to go with the girls basketball crown won three months ago.
