Years ago, when I was covering both genders of lacrosse for the newspapers, one of the teams in my coverage area was a college preparatory school which, in recent years, developed into the No. 1 boys’ lacrosse team in the country.
The coach told me a story after a win. During the week, he had his fastest player line up on the end line, then had one of his long-stick midfielders holding the ball. When he blew the whistle, the fastest player would spring to the midfield stripe, and the long-stick middie would chuck the ball 50 yards.
The rest of the team watched as the ball would cross the midfield line first. Every time.
“The ball,” the coach said, “moves faster than the player.”
In today’s NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse quarterfinal game between Stony Brook and Johns Hopkins, the Hopkins’ game-winning goal in the final 20 seconds was all about this principle, plus the willingness to share the ball.
Here’s what happened on the Blue Jays’ goal. This sequence is destined to go into legend in women’s lacrosse circles:
15.5 seconds left, ball about 91 yards from goal: Stony Brook is dispossessed, thanks to a double-team check by Hopkins senior Reagan O’Brien, a Tewaaraton Award finalist.
13.5 seconds left, ball about 93 yards from goal: Lacey Downey, a junior midfielder, gets a ground-ball pickup, spins forward, and throws about a 15-yard pass to teammate Jillian McNaughton on the defensive right wing.
8.6 seconds left, ball about 70 yards from goal: McNaughton takes about three steps, then launches the ball about five yards short of the opposing restraining line, where Paige Willard makes the catch, then pivots to see two open teammates moving into the final third.
6.0 seconds left, ball about 40 yards from goal: Willard throws a diagonal midfield pass in between teammates M.K. Lescault and Samantha DiCarlo. Lescault makes a sensational stab at the ball over her head to reel it in, and runs three steps as a 2-on-2 situation develops in the fan.
3.8 seconds left, ball about 20 yards from goal: Lescault makes a through pass to the attacking left wing to teammate Ava Angello deep inside the fan. Angello smartly scans the situation and sees an open teammate at the opposite post.
2.0 seconds left, ball about four yards from goal: Angello floats a pass to the right post, where a waiting Taylor Hoss is framing the goal. All she needs to do is make a clean catch and shot.
1.1 seconds left, ball about three yards from goal: Hoss puts the ball into the cage. As the clock does not stop until the umpire makes the signal awarding the goal, the clock winds to zero.
0.0 seconds left, ball in the cage: Hoss dunks the stick drop and is enveloped by teammates. The umpires inspect the stick and it is legal. The game is over.
I have seen a lot of collegiate women’s lacrosse since 1989. This is the most sensational sequence I have ever seen in the sport, considering the occasion and the skills needed to complete the six-pass relay after O’Brien’s check.