DAYTON, Ohio – In a rematch of an April 30 regular season contest, St. Xavier and Upper Arlington played one half of the Division I state semifinal lacrosse match at Centerville's Legacy Field at Alumni Stadium Wednesday night.
Due to rain and lightning in Centerville, the game got no further than halftime with Upper Arlington leading 7-4. The remainder of the game was played at Dayton's Chaminade-Julienne High School Thursday at noon.
The Bombers stayed within three late into the third quarter, but Upper Arlington pulled away in the fourth, leading by as many as nine before winning 15-9.
Seniors Leo Caine and Chris Mazzaferri had five goals each for the Golden Bears, while in his final game for St. Xavier, four-year player Luke Vrsansky led with a hat trick. Upper Arlington now moves to center stage for a championship Saturday.
Wednesday night, it was Mother Nature on stage.
Just before the start of the third quarter, lightning was detected. From that point, the clock was restarted to 30 minutes per strike and the strikes were coming with regularity. For added entertainment, it began raining sideways.
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The weather delay began just after 9 p.m. After about an hour and a half, the game was postponed.
Both teams bused out of Centerville with Upper Arlington up three.
The Golden Bears put the ball between the pipes three times in Wednesday's first four minutes before St. Xavier's Vrsansky scored at the 7:00 mark. Upper Arlington senior attack Leo Caine had three goals in the first period and they led by as many as five goals.
Freshman Khalif Hocker and Vrsansky would add goals before the end of the quarter with Upper Arlington leading 7-3.
Oddly enough, after 10 first-quarter goals, only one team scored in the second, a goal from St. Xavier's Reid Stegbauer. The game would go to half at 7-4.
Then, just as it happened in the opening girls Division II semifinal between Mariemont and Bishop Watterson, lightning was spotted.
Thursday afternoon, a Jimmy Ryan goal had St. Xavier down just 9-6 late in the third frame, but Upper Arlington roared back with six unanswered goals to have a comfortable 15-6 advantage. St. Xavier closed out with goals from senior Andrew Andsager, Vrsansky and Hocker in the closing minutes for the 15-9 final.
Vrsansky now takes his lacrosse talents to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs after a distinguished Bombers career in football, hockey and with the lacrosse stick in spring.
Upper Arlington is now 22-1, undefeated in Ohio with just one loss to a team from Wilmington, Delaware. They are a 16-time state champion. The Golden Bears also beat the Bombers in last year's state semifinal.
St. Xavier won state championships in 2015 and 2018. They were state runners-up in 2019 in addition to making the state semifinals the past two seasons.
Coach Sprong's Bombers finish 12-10 including a 13-6 earlier loss to Upper Arlington. Their last loss before Thursday was on May 11 to Dublin Jerome who will face Upper Arlington Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Division I championship game at historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.
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