PROVIDENCE — This was not easy, it wasn’t supposed to be.
Championship games are meant to be hard-fought, passionate and closely contested.
The Division III boys lacrosse title contest between Westerly High and Smithfield meet all that criteria and more as the Bulldogs emerged with a 9-8 win Sunday night against the Sentinels at a chilly Brown University.
“Our guys dug down deep and just competed until we got a few breaks and we got a few goals. It was a struggle, it was really a tough game,” second-year Westerly coach Stephen Schaus said.
Westerly took a 9-8 lead with 5:19 remaining on an unassisted goal by senior Liam Cody, who curled his way around the goal for the score.
“We work on it all the time — extra-man offense,” Cody said. “I hadn’t scored at all in the game so coming into the fourth [quarter] I knew I had to do something big to help our team out. He [Smithfield goalie Dalton Donoyan] over committed to Drew [Pietraszka] and I just took the cut, shot it and thankfully it went in.”
After that things got a little crazy.
Westerly won the ensuing faceoff, but lost control to the Sentinels. With less than three minutes remaining Westerly’s Aidan Cody knocked the ball loose from a Smithfield player and the Bulldogs appeared to gain control only to lose it again.
With just over two minutes left, Westerly’s Tyler Rafferty came up with a ground ball, but Smithfield regained possession again. The Sentinels called another timeout with 1:28 left and Westerly goalie Ryder Casady, who had some strong saves among the 10 he had in the game, came up with another one with 1:08 left.
But Westerly turned it over several times before a long shot by Smithfield in the final seconds was wide as the game ended setting off a celebration for the Bulldogs.
“It was the biggest game of my life and the best game of my life,” Casady said. “It’s just amazing. I really don’t have any words to say right now. I’ve been working at this since my freshman year and we finally got it. It’s unmatched.”
Pietraszka finished with four goals and an assist for the Bulldogs. It was a performance that seemed highly unlikely before the season even began.
Pietraszka broke the L1 vertebrae, which is located in the lower back, in a preseason scrimmage with Chariho. The injury resulted from helmet to helmet contact.
Pietraszka had to go through physical training therapy before he could return in the 13th game of the season against Smithfield. He scored five goals in a half in his first game back.
“It was a struggle. I didn’t think I was going to play this year. But these guys motivated me all through the season,” Pietraszka said. “I was at every game and every practice cheering these guys on helping them to get better. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Smithfield had the ball and a 4-3 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. But the Bulldogs were able to regain possession and Pietraszka scored with just eight seconds left to tie the score at 4-4 at the half in a big turnaround.
The two teams played twice during the regular season with the Bulldogs earning a 9-8 overtime road win on April 25 and prevailing 12-3 on May 18 in Westerly.
But the Sentinels were not deterred by those two games as they won five of eight faceoffs in the first half and controlled quite a bit of the play.
“They came out with more intensity. They handled the ball better than we did,” Schaus said. “They are very well coached and they game planned us. They were very well prepared. It’s difficult to beat a good team three times in one season.”
Schaus said the Bulldogs did a better job of maintaining their composure in the second half.
“In the second half, we had more offensive opportunities and we were a little more efficient,” Schaus said. “The guys really did a good job of keeping their composure. You just have to keep you composure and not panic.”
Casady agreed the Bulldogs were more composed in the second half.
“In the first quarter, we were just nervous, not really panicking, just all over the place, well panicking, yes,” Cassidy said. “We knew they were a good team and they were going to come to play. But we calmed down and did what we needed to do. We listened to our great coach and followed what he wanted us to do.”
The game was tied six times, but the Sentinels did grab a 7-5 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter. But a goal by Eric Fusaro, assisted by Pietraszka and one by Lance Williams early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 7-7.
Alex Luzzi and Caleb Williams contributed first-half goals for the Bulldogs. Liam Cody finished with two assists and Caleb Williams had one.
Westerly finished the season 16-1 with the only loss coming in a nonleague game against Stonington. Top-seeded Westerly was 16-0 against D-III teams this season. No. 2 Smithfield finished 10-5 with three of the losses coming against Westerly.
The title was the third Division III crown for Westerly with each of them coming four years apart.
“The seniors set this goal back in January and I said if this is what you want you have to plan to get there and let’s go,” Schaus said. “And they all signed up for the mission. Throughout the whole season they kept focus and kept working hard.”