WORCESTER — After starting the spring hot, BC High ran into adversity at the end of the regular season. Entering the statewide playoffs, some had developed doubts about whether the Eagles could even make it back to a state championship.
With each passing week, they kept their faith in one another, and proved everybody wrong. Senior Murphy Belvin and sophomore Nathan Rogers each finished with a hat trick Friday, as sixth-seeded BC High (18-5) captured its first Div. 1 boys lacrosse title since 2018 with a memorable 10-9 victory over top-ranked Lincoln-Sudbury (17-4).
“It’s so complete, right?” BC High coach Marcus Craigwell said. “I think beating (St. John’s) Prep, they were the monkey on our back, and then L-S, who beat us twice in the championship a couple years ago, it was almost like a storybook ending. I’m so fortunate, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to coach this team. I thank my wife as well for supporting me, and the players and parents for really just putting the team forward and really doing whatever it took to become state champions.”
BC High had plenty of recent playoff success, and was making its eighth finals appearance since 2016. However, the school had only one title to show for all of it. In fact, during their first two appearances, the Eagles had fallen to Lincoln-Sudbury (2016 and 2017). In four out of the previous five seasons, the school had come up short to archrival St. John’s Prep in the Div. 1 final, with most of the games ending in heartbreaking fashion.
This week, BC High finally knocked off St. John’s Prep in an overtime thriller to reach the title game. On Friday, the Eagles showed no signs of a letdown at Worcester State. After a few minutes of scoreless play, Belvin caught a pass from Enzo Serio in front of the cage, then sniped a wild shot through contact to provide BC High a 1-0 advantage with 7:10 left in the opening frame. Serio potted a goal of his own just 2:09 later to push it to a 2-0 contest.
As the first quarter drew to a close, Belvin connected for his second goal, giving BC High a 3-0 lead through one.
Belvin had battled back from a series of lingering injuries during the course of the season. The Bates commit saved his best performance for last.
“I was kind of going into these games with the mindset that nobody cares how hurt you are, how you feel,” Belvin said. “Once you trust your teammates, that’s what (brings) it through. It wasn’t focusing on my health and my injuries. It was trusting the guy next to me, and realizing that they needed me, and I needed them.”
Rogers ducked past a series of oncoming defenders before burying a goal for BC High with 9:22 to go in the second quarter. Jackson Ketchen won the ensuing faceoff, sprinted up the turf and fired a rocket top-shelf nine seconds later.
Even when Lincoln-Sudbury managed to get on the board off a shot from Anthony Sacco in the late stages of the half, BC High quickly answered – eight seconds later. Ketchen won yet another faceoff, and buried his second goal to make it 6-1 with 2:14 to play in the second quarter.
Sacco netted his second goal with eight seconds left in the half, cutting the deficit to 6-2 for Lincoln-Sudbury at intermission.
Then, the barrage continued for BC High to begin the third quarter. Belvin opted to fire a missile from distance, and struck his target as the Eagles pushed it back to a 7-2 contest with 10:39 left in the frame. Serio drew twine with a skipping shot 2:02 later for his second goal, and BC High was back in complete control with an 8-2 edge.
Later on in the final stanza, Lincoln-Sudbury attempted to climb back into contention. Senior midfielder Brendan Dooley struck for a pair of goals in short order, as the Warriors cut it to an 8-5 contest with 5:49 remaining.
Rogers took things over for a brief stretch. The sophomore attackman tallied two quick goals in 31 seconds to complete a hat trick. At that point, it felt like BC High was set to cruise to victory, leading 10-5 with 3:31 to play.
But Caleb Ellenbaas kickstarted the rally, scoring with 2:47 left to make it a 10-6 game. Then Dooley, Brady Malo and Kaeden Ryan each sniped the cage with consecutive tallies. Stunningly, Lincoln-Sudbury had stormed back to make it a 10-9 thriller with 50 ticks remaining.
However, while the Warriors had one brief chance to find an equalizer, BC High closed strong defensively.
“(I’ll remember) just the way we fought,” Serio said. “You can’t make this past four days up. Going into Prep five seasons in a row, 2021 to 2025, and just getting smoked either in the state championship, or in the Final Four. Losing in overtime last year. That really drove us in the preseason, and I think I’ll remember that the most – being able to do this not only for us, but for the guys that flew in today. The guys who drove from hours away to watch a team they lost to their junior and senior years.”
