The fact that the Towson boys lacrosse team is still alive in its quest for a state championship is a surprise to some — including Friday night’s hero.
“I’m shocked we are still playing. I really thought our season was over,” Towson junior attackman Hudson Arrup said after the Generals defeated Catonsville 6-5 in overtime in the Class 3A North Region I semifinals.
Towson is still playing because it put the ball in Arrup’s stick with 20 seconds left trailing by a goal. Arrup drifted up the right side and flipped a pass behind him to Alex Tyler about 10 yards from the cage. Arrup traversed to the other side and Tyler circled the back of the cage before delivering a low pass to the left-handed Arrup’s stick. Arrup caught it going away from the cage and ripped a behind-the-head shot from 5 yards out into the back of the net with seven seconds left.
“Alex came around and I think I actually messed up a play there, I think I flipped it too late or early or something,” Arrup said. “To get that tie with a couple seconds to go, I cut lefty and I saw the ball coming in I caught it and I said there is nothing I could do, so I just put it behind my back. The ball went in the net and I got really lucky and couple seconds later the game gets forced into overtime and I just let the game play and I just got the ball behind and I ran as hard as I could and it was left-handed.”
“We knew he had that [behind the back] in the bag,” Catonsville coach KR Schultz said. “He does it a lot. He’s a good player. It was a helluva play.”
Arrup scored the game-winning goal more conventionally when he ripped his patented hard left-handed shot into the top of the net with two minutes left in overtime.
“It doesn’t even feel real. I can’t even believe it,” Arrup said. “In the county championship, I scored the game- winner and doing this one as well.”
“To score that with seven seconds left and then to get the game winner is just phenomenal,” Towson coach Phil Rossetti said. “We got the look we wanted.”
The win advances the Generals (11-3) to the regional final. They’ll host Dulaney at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Arrup’s overtime goal was the only time the Generals led all game.
Catonsville, playing without leading scorer Ben Hipszer, played inspired from the outset. Vaughn Quinby gave the Comets a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game and Quinby fed J.P. Dement for a two-goal lead midway through the second quarter.
Towson finally broke the ice when Arrup scored with 15 seconds left in the first half.
“We said to the guys, ‘Let’s get that first one to fall and then go from there,’” Rossetti said. “It was momentum.”
Catonsville’s defense, led by Will Turner, Grayson Kirby and Sam Azbill, was stellar throughout the game and goalie Rory Gibbons (10 saves) was even better.
“[Gibbons] played an excellent game. He’s always a good keeper,” Arrup said. “They are an excellent program, an excellent team. It doesn’t matter who is ranked, whatever, they are always going to give us their best shot.”
“Rory is an incredible goalie. He’s a monster,” Schultz said.
A flurry of back-and-forth goals had the game tied at 3 after three quarters.
Towson long pole Jack Nowlan made some big plays in the second half and goalie Jackson Harris made eight of his nine saves in the second half to keep the Generals close.
However, the Comets took the lead, 4-3, when Dement fed Fox less than a minute into the fourth quarter. Towson responded with a goal by long pole Colin Kosmides off a fast break feed from Will Heacock.
Catonsville regained the lead, 5-4, with 2:45 left in regulation when Colin Murray scored off a Fox assist. That set up Arrup’s heroics and another tough loss for the Comets (5-8).
“We challenged them and we played a tough schedule,” Schultz said. “I’m proud of the way we battled. I’m proud of our entire team.”
Rossetti was just happy to survive and advance.
“It’s hard to beat a team twice,” Rossetti said. “Catonsville is a very good team. We knew that. We had a tough draw in our region, a ton of respect for that team. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, we started very slow, but I believe in our guys.
“I just can’t say more incredible things about this team, how together they are. Hudson Arrup, talk about how he is just an incredible player, one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
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TOW — 0 1 2 2 1 — 6
CAT — 1 1 1 2 0— 5
Goals: Tow: Hudson Arrup 3, Max Kosmides 2, Colin Kosmides 1; Cat: Colin Fox 2, Vaughn Quinby 1, Colin Murray 1, JP Dement 1; Assists: Tow: Will Heacock 1, Alex Tyler 1; Cat: Quinby 1, Fox 1, Dement 1.
Saves: Tow: Jackson Harris 9; Cat: Rory Gibbons 10.