The Saints Go Marching In – St. Georges and St. Hugh’s claim Lacrosse titles

Photo: President of Jamaica Lacrosse Calbert Hutchinson, presents the championship trophy to St. Georges College who defeated Kingston College 6-5 in the final at the Wolmers play field on Friday.

St. Georges College and St. Hugh’s High school claimed their second Lacrosse titles in nail biting finishes over Kingston College and Wolmers’ Girls respectively at the Wolmers’ play field on Friday.

St. Georges College had to withstand some late pressure from their North Street rivals Kingston College to win 6-5 after leading comfortably at 6-2 midway the second half. The Light Blues dominated the first half to lead 4-2 at the interval and seemed as though they would cruise to the championship win when they scored the first two goals of the second half to go up by four clear goals.

But KC is known for their great powers of recovery and scored three unanswered goals to put the previously cool STGC under immense pressure. With 10 seconds left in the game KC received a penalty play, but the STGC goalkeeper came up with two blinding saves to deny the Purples the equalizer, first on the penalty and then on a follow-up shot.

The girls’ final was equally as exciting and had to be decided in sudden death extra time. Defending champions St. Hugh’s traded goals with a determined Wolmers’ team in a see-saw affair. The Swans led early before being pegged back by Wolmers who eventually took the lead but not for very long.

Both teams scored goals at regular intervals but it seemed St. Hughes had done enough to win the game when they scored with less than a minute left to play. Wolmers refused to go away however and scored to level at 7-7 with just a few ticks left on the clock to force overtime. The champions held their nerve to get the winner in the extra time period to win 8-7 in sudden death much to the delight of their fans and an ecstatic coach Richard Crooks.

The Lacrosse school league is only two years old and has grown from a total of five competing schools in 2016 to 14 teams in 2017. President of Jamaica Lacrosse Calbert Hutchinson, has put down the level of growth in one year to the sport becoming more institutionalized within the schools, as well as coaching education. Hutchinson also said that marketing of the event within the country has played a significant role.

Calabar who were competing for the first time finished third in the boys section, while another first-timer, Excelsior High finished third in the girls section.