St. Anne’s-Belfield’s boys lacrosse team has played more games than a lot of local squads at this point, but they’ve lost three contests to snow and as banged up as the Saints have been it doesn’t feel like they’ve got more than 10 games under their belt.
“The weather has wreaked havoc on everyone,” said STAB coach Bo Perriello. “I don’t think I’ve had a year where I’ve lost even one game to snow. And we’ve had as many as five guys out. We had two guys back for their first game today.”
Both those players had a big impact, and one of them, Phillip Robertson, scored with 2:08 to play to lift STAB to a 6-5 victory over St. Xavier. Robertson’s goal completed a fourth quarter surge that started with the Saints trailing 5-3 at the end of the third.
Freshman Joe Robertson ignited the rally with a pair of goals. The game-tying tally came after Robertson drew a penalty near the top of the box. He fell down, maintained possession and sprinted toward the goal line extended. He veered back toward the center of the field at the goal line and buried a shot for the equalizer.
It isn’t often that a freshman makes a huge impact for the Saints, a traditional power, but Robertson has been carrying a lot of the weight offensively with his older brother Phillip Robertson and Scott Cathcart out with injuries.
“Joe has had to really grow up very fast,” Perriello said. “With Philip (being sick) and Scott, the only really returning attackman, having a concussion, Joe has really been our leading scorer and our most consistent performer this year. We’ve also had to throw Jack Schultz to the wolves and he’s been able to respond. The only real silver lining to having those guys out is giving the chance for these young guys step in and step up.”
The Saints’ defense came up with several key stops down the stretch and held on in the final 10 seconds as St. Xavier desperately sought an answer and a chance to send the game to overtime. STAB’s Austin Park picked up six ground balls and Rob Schotta came up with four of his own to help bolster the Saints’ defensive effort.
“We’ve been fairly consistent on the defensive end in terms of staying healthy and that’s allowed us to be a little more consistent down there,” Perriello said.
The Saints built a 3-1 a lead in the early stages of the game, with Cathcart, the other player returning to the lineup from injury, scoring twice and Grant Schultz adding another. But late in the second quarter St. Xavier took control and tied the game at 3-3 at the break. It was more of the same in the third quarter as STAB struggled and Xavier nudged ahead for a 5-3 lead at the start of the third.
That’s when Joe Robertson gave the Saints a spark and his older brother finished things off with the go-ahead goal.
The win gives the Saints a nice boost going into a big rivalry game Friday night at home against St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes.
“That’s always one we’ve got circled on our calendar with them being such a perennial powerhouse,” Perriello said. “I know the guys are excited and we’re hoping to maybe get a couple of more guys back before Friday.”
