Harrison Lacrosse Wins a Thriller

The Harrison Huskies built a 6 - 2 lead, lost it, and recovered with a game winning goal by Alex Acompora with only minutes remaining en route to a 9 - 8 victory over the Briarcliff Bears Monday afternoon in Harrison.

The Huskies controlled the game early on. Two consecutive goals by Brandon Bonistall to close out the first quarter, followed by a quick Harrison goal to start the second, staked Harrison to a 5 - 1 lead.

But the Bears would fight back.

A high tempo finish to the half resulted in both teams swapping goals before Ryan Connery scored for Briarcliff seconds before halftime to make the score 6 - 4. 

Harrison made little effort to slow the tempo early in the second half. Bonistall rushed down the field and scored only 40 seconds after the break.

"That's how we like to play, we are a run and gun type of team," said Harrison Coach Steve Byrnes. "We take a lot of pride in our conditioning."

However, it was the Harrison defense that made the difference in the third quarter. After the lead was extended to 7 - 4, Harrison goalie Tony Conigliaro made several great saves to keep Briarcliff off the scoreboard before finally yielding another goal to Connery.

The rapid pace resumed in the final minutes of the third quarter. Harrison's Sam Gioseffi netted a shot about 20 feet from the goal to make the score 8 - 5, but after the Huskies missed a scoring chance of their own immediately after the faceoff, a quick Briarcliff outlet pass to Connery allowed the senior attacker to split the Harrison defense to score, bringing the Bears to within two.

At that point the Harrison offensive attack slowed, allowing Briarcliff to control the ball for the majority of the final period. 

"They did make some adjustments and we threw it away ourselves a few times," said Byrnes. "We are happy to get the win."

But the win wouldn't come without some last minute heroics. A determined Briarcliff team scored two goals in 90 seconds to tie the game with just over four and a half minutes to play.

With just under three minutes remaining, it appeared that Briarcliff had taken the lead, but the ball was stuck in the outside part of the Harrison net, confusing almost everyone on the field. While Briarcliff celebrated what they thought was a go-ahead goal, the Huskies moved the ball across the field to position themselves for a game winner of their own.

With 2:22 left, Acompora made a great spin move to his left and fired a strike into the back of the Briarcliff net. Harrison held on in the final minutes for the 9 - 8 win.

"Our boys did fight back," said Byrnes. "They battled back through a tough situation and we were happy to get the win."