No. 1 John Bapst scored three unanswered goals on No. 2 Ellsworth Wednesday night, coming back from a two-goal deficit to win their second consecutive Class B North regional championship, 3-2 in overtime.
Despite being favored to win, John Bapst had its hands full right off the bat, when Ellsworth’s Cruz Coffin somehow headed in a long throw-in just 34 seconds into play. The reigning Class B boys’ Player of the Year caught the Crusaders off-guard, directing the ball into the goal from inside the six-yard box with his bleached blonde noggin.
Playing from behind, the Crusaders couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively, struggling to retain possession and create meaningful chances in the attacking third. John Bapst didn’t get its first corner kick until 15 minutes remaining in the first half, and didn’t make an attempt on goal until the 35th minute.
On the other end of the pitch, Coffin nearly made it 2-0 in the fifth minute of play, speeding past the Bapst sweepers before firing it right at Bapst keeper Connor Messervey, who saved the shot with his legs.
The Eagles managed to break through again in the second half, on another restart with 15 minutes to go. Senior co-captain Owen Frank launched a dangerous set piece into the box, which Messervey eagerly punched away. But before he could get back in net, junior Kal Laslie fired the ball from the edge of the box and through traffic to make it a two score game.
Bapst finally got on the board with 10:55 to go, when junior center forward Ethan Marquis was tripped up by sophomore Ellsworth keeper Cooper Mitchell in the box. Mitchell received a yellow card for the foul, and Marquis proceeded to bury the penalty kick bottom left.
Playing with new life, the Crusaders found that exact same corner of Ellsworth’s goal just two minutes later.
Starting when the pesky Marquis drew another foul roughly 25 yards from goal, senior Jack Derosier punished Ellsworth’s mistake this time around. Rifling a low line drive around the Ellsworth wall, Derosier shocked everyone with John Bapst’s second goal in the blink of an eye, suddenly tying the game at 2-2.
In overtime, Bapst weathered two close calls from Coffin and company, and won on a golden goal six minutes into play. The Crusaders were lethal again on a set piece, with Marquis curling a beauty into that bottom left corner for a third time.
