WEST LONG BRANCH — After Christian Brothers Academy ’s Davis Campbell scored the game-winning goal with 12.3 seconds left to win the lacrosse Shore Conference Tournament title — the junior said it came down to one thing.
“It was tied up, a minute left, and it kind of just came up to who wanted it more,” said Campbell.
His game-winning goal completed a hat trick for the Holy Cross commit and lifted his team to a 5-4 win over Manasquan Monday. Sophomore Caden Lucich finished with two goals and was the only other Colt to score. The goal itself was in dramatic fashion after a wild sequence occurred. A chase for the ball in the corner left an open Manasquan net, and when the ball went up in the air, it landed in the midfielder's stick.
More: The top 50 boys lacrosse juniors in the Shore Conference, ranked
More: VOTE: Who are the boys lacrosse Shore sophomore and freshman Players of the Year?
“It was just a loose ball in the corner, we did a good job at being physical and winning the ground ball, and Davis was opportunistic and buried it,” said CBA head coach Dave Santos.
Ironically, just the week before, Campbell was in a role where he was far from being the offensive threat he was at Monmouth University on Monday.
“I love the fact that Davis Campbell had a huge game for us because in the semis we asked him to take a reduced role,” said Santos. "He’s normally our midi, he accepted it. He had no points. But every point we scored in the semis, he was the first one to celebrate.”
The turning point in CBA boys lacrosse win in Shore Conference Tournament final over Manasquan
It wasn’t all celebrations for most of the fourth quarter. Especially when CBA found itself trailing after a Brandon Kunz goal with 4:47 left put the Warriors up, 4-3. However, Harvard commit and long stick Quinn Kelly made a vital takeaway near midfield to give his team to a chance to tie it up and Campbell converted with 1:19 left.
“I think it’s just having belief in what you do every single day. It’s not ‘oh, I need to get a takeaway here’,” said Kelly. "I just knew, get yourself in the right position and maybe something will happen.”
“He’s a silent warrior,” said Santos. “You don’t see him in the stat book but he makes huge plays at huge times. That strip with two minutes to go was gigantic. And he clears the ball for us, he just does it all. He’ll probably graduate with two career goals, but you can make an argument he’s our most valuable player.”
Defensive masterclass from both teams
The game itself was a defensive masterclass. Both teams were held scoreless until a Patrick Frost goal as time expired in the first quarter granted to the Warriors the first score of the game. Manasquan goalie and High Point commit Nick Bounassi made eight saves.
As for CBA, senior and Stockton commit Brandon Desena played strong for all four quarters as well.
“Brandon Desena is probably one of the best goalies in the state,” said Quinn. “He’s put on a show, he’s making doorstop saves, it’s always him.”
This is the fifth Shore Conference title for the Colts and Santos who’s been at the helm since 1985. The last time CBA was in the SCT finals was in 2019 when they lost to Manasquan 12-7.
The Colts continued to be respected team in the conference but struggled to get over the hump. After the game, Kelly needed a second before handing out credit to his teammates, coaches, and players before him.
'It's bigger than words can put it,' says Christian Brothers Academy lacrosse's Quinn Kelly
“It’s bigger than words can put it,” replied Kelly when asked what this win means to him. “We’ve been trying to do this for so many years and it’s not even about us, it’s about the people that came before us. It’s for Coach Santos who started this program way back, more than 20 years ago. He’s been building this program up. Coach (Connor) Sofield, he pours his heart and soul in this, every single day he stays up extra hours when has work the next day so he can put us in the best position to win.”
“I give credit to all the kids who were seniors when I was a freshman. They taught me how to lead, and be a good person and how to do the right thing all the time,” Kelly said.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Goal with 12.3 seconds left decides boys lacrosse Shore Conference Tournament championship
Local News
Comments / 0