St. Xavier lacrosse rallies to beat Upper Arlington in OT thriller in state semifinal

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – St. Xavier and Upper Arlington played a state semifinal for the ages Wednesday night at Wittenberg University’s Edwards-Maurer Field.

In sudden death overtime, St. Xavier kept the Golden Bears of Upper Arlington from getting a golden goal, then bombed in a game-winner of their own on their next possession.

D.J. Wojciechowski’s open shot from close range gave St. Xavier an 8-7 win over Upper Arlington in a Division I state semifinal. The Bombers, 18-5 overall, will play Dublin Jerome in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.

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The Bombers avenged a loss to UA in last year’s semifinal and will play in the state final for the first time since 2019.

“It’s gonna be great. Hopefully, we come out with the same outcome we did tonight,” St. X sophomore goalie Trent Yelton said. “St. X and Upper Arlington is probably the greatest rivalry in Ohio for lacrosse. It's always intense. I see these guys in the summer all the time. It’s crazy."

Wojciechowski spun around one Golden Bears defender and beat another to an open spot in front of the goal, where he scored from close range.

“We had this game plan,” Wojciechowski said. “Get the dodge going over the top. I saw the guy sliding early and I just finished right between the legs. He’s been a little slow getting down all night so I just had to shoot it and see what I can do.”

UA won the faceoff to start overtime and nearly won it when Chase Morgan missed from point-blank range. Yelton got possession of the ball and kept possession for the Bombers.

“They just got a little wrap-around,” Yelton said. “Kid was wide open. Luckily it went wide.”

How the game got to overtime

The golden goal finished a thriller in which neither team led by more than one goal.

The Golden Bears took a one-goal lead five times but the Bombers tied it each time.

St. X took its first lead with 3:42 left, 6-5, on a goal from sophomore Johnnie Guttman only to have UA score two goals in a row, the first time either team did that, to take the lead with 1:21 to go.

Junior Brady Bennett broke free from the defense and got open in front of the goal, receiving a great pass from Guttman to tie the game at 7-7 with 46 seconds to go.

“We're never going to give up,” Wojciechowski said. “Got to keep fighting for ground balls. I mean just shows how this team is gritty, you know, blue-collar. Just going to get our knuckles in the dirt, get some ground balls.”

It was a true defensive struggle, with few of the goals being easy and requiring tough plays by the offensive players.

Neither team scored in the second quarter, and the game was tied 2-2 at halftime. UA led 5-4 after three quarters.

“It’s a tribute to our kids,” St. X head coach Nate Sprong said. “Especially being a young team led by the seniors, they just found a way. They ground it out, played with grit and, you know, got it done. We didn't have a whole lot of patience in the first half. But as the game went on, we kind of settled into our groove and you know. We were patient and got decent shots.”

St. Xavier scoring came from young Bombers

Seven of the eight Bomber goals were scored by sophomores. Wojciechowski scored two and Luke Sprong, two. Guttman, Brendan Deeley and Hayden Shamsi had one. Bennett’s was the only goal by an older player.  

“I’ve been playing with a lot of these guys my entire life,” Yelton, also a sophomore. “We just came together as a team. (D.J.) has been my best friend since kindergarten (and) scored that game-winner right there. I’ve played with him every year and I didn’t want anyone else with the ball. I trust everyone on this team.” 

St. X’s leading scorer, Khalif Hocker, was shut out as the Golden Bears face-guarded him and made it very difficult for him to even get the ball. He did get a couple of assists.

“We knew that they were going to shut him off and that other guys were going to have to step up and carry the load,” Sprong said. “And you know, that's what they did.”