Lacrosse Finishes Its Season at 15-5

Despite a season-ending 14-4 loss on Monday to Palos Verdes, one of the City section’s top teams, the Palisades High boys lacrosse team can savor its remarkable comeback victory last Thursday.
Trailing by two goals with less than half a minute to play against Crespi, PaliHi rallied to force overtime, where it won, 10-9, on a goal by Chris Groel. The senior defenseman instigated the comeback frenzy by winning two faceoffs, allowing senior midfielder Blake Bryant and senior attacker Daniel Gurvis to score goals 15 seconds apart to tie the score at 9-9.
“It’s the most amazing win I’ve ever had as a coach,” head coach Scott Hylen said. “I’ve never had a team score that many goals that quickly. We’ve had a really tough season in terms of losing some games that we should have won, but for the guys to come back and show that kind of heart and show the league what they’re capable of is really amazing.”
Pali led for most of the game until Crespi rallied late to take an 8-7 lead. Needing the ball back, the Dolphins pulled their goalie, and Crespi scored again to make it 9-7, which forced a faceoff at midfield.
Groel won the faceoff, and Bryant scored with 24 seconds to play to bring the Dolphins to within 9-8. Then Gurvis made a tremendous individual effort, beating a Crespi double team and scoring from 16 yards out with just nine seconds to play.
Groel managed to win yet another faceoff and raced downfield. He appeared to have a long-range shot available, but was hit as he let fly and the ball sailed wide, keeping the score tied.
Twenty-seven seconds into overtime, Bryant flipped a pass to Groel on the Pali side of the field and Groel took off, pulling up 12 yards from the net and scoring the winning shot.
Groel, a Rutgers commit, had three goals on the day, while Bryant, Gurvis and junior midfielder Charlie Wyman had two each. Sophomore attack Nate Galper had two assists, and Groel also led the team with eight ground balls.
With the Palos Verdes loss, the Dolphins finished the regular season at 15-5. The City section will hold its playoff seeding meeting on Sunday, and Hylen said he expects the team to receive anywhere from a 7 to 10 seed. The first eight seeds play home games starting April 30.