The score was 5–5 in sudden-death overtime of the men’s lacrosse team’s senior night. Junior William Cromer passed the ball to junior Ashwin Pathiyal, who lost his defender as he sent the ball across the field to junior Ryan Granowitter.
Granowitter ran through two Maret defenders and ripped the ball to the bottom left corner of the goal. The Maret goalie dove to the ball, but it was too late. The GDS players immediately cleared the bench, and Granowitter and his teammates dove into a pile, cheering and throwing sticks in the air.
The men’s varsity lacrosse team beat Maret on Tuesday, April 28. The team, which went into the game with a record of 2–6, celebrated their three seniors, Benji Gold, Julian Lucas and Ben Kanter.
Gold faced off against a Maret player to open the game, and after a long battle for the ball, GDS gained possession in the first play.
Maret threw a long pass to a player in the midfield, but Cromer ran up behind the player and stole the ball to give GDS possession. Cromer scored a shot down the middle, and with 4:30 left in the first quarter, GDS took the lead 1–0. (Cromer and Granowitter are sports writers for the Bit.)
Maret started the second quarter with possession, and with 9:17 left in the second quarter, a Maret player ran around the goal to score, tying the game 1–1.
Maret gained possession to start the second half, but junior Peter McManus recovered the ball. Junior Nathan Tureck passed the ball to junior Ahren Sidhu, who cut in for a quick goal, putting GDS up 2–1 with 11:16 on the clock.
Maret found a cutter for a short goal, tying the game. With 5:23 left in the quarter, Maret recovered a bounce ball for a goal, taking their first lead, 3–2.
Lucas recovered a loose ball and passed it across the field to Sidhu, who scored a quick goal to tie the game at 3 with 4:36 left in the quarter. The next play, junior Tristan Souchaud caused a turnover and passed to Sidhu for Sidhu’s third goal of the quarter.
“As soon as I got the ball, I just knew no one on the field could guard me,” Sidhu said.
Gold won the faceoff after a timeout, and Granowitter scored a goal against tough defense to put GDS up 5–3 with 2:36 left in the quarter.
To start the fourth quarter, a Maret player scored while falling through contact to close the gap to 5–4. With 3:10 on the clock, Maret scored a long goal to tie the game.
“I was mad at myself,” Kanter said of his reaction to the goal. “But [I] just [thought about] getting that goal out of my mind and just helping my team move forward.”
Kanter saved two shots in the final two minutes, giving GDS possession. GDS players scrambled for one last goal but came up short, and the game moved into overtime.
Granowitter said Gold’s final faceoff win, Pathiyal’s assist and the rest of the team’s hustle contributed to his game-winning shot. “I know that’s a shot that I’ve practiced over and over,” he said. “It really just shows that practice pays off.” As Granowitter praised his teammates, GDS players interrupted the interview to pour water on Granowitter and celebrate with him.
Gold said he was too scared to watch Granowitter’s game-winner and began celebrating when he saw his teammates running across the field. “To come out this year and play the best lacrosse we’ve ever played feels really good,” Gold said. “To do it with my brothers also feels really good.”
“My first year [on the team], we had 12 kids,” Kanter said. “Now we have a full team, and we’re getting hype winning [Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference] games in overtime. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Lucas cited the team’s energetic warmup for their performance in the game. Lucas said he did not take lacrosse very seriously when he began playing in eighth grade. “But I stuck with it, and these guys are super funny in practice and in school, and it’s just a great group of people to be around,” Lucas said.
Assistant coach Tom Oberdorfer said senior night may have been Lucas’ best game of his career. “He just played really smart,” Oberdorfer said.
Sidhu has played with the seniors since he was in seventh grade. “It’s awesome to watch how they grew,” he said. “They’re fantastic players now and great leaders; I’m going to miss them next year, but their legacy won’t be forgotten.”