2 weeks Ago
Junior Jonah Ziv had made the pass before, dissecting Pingry’s scout of Gill St. Bernard’s man-down defense in practice on Monday. This was the real thing, though, with everything on the line in double overtime on Tuesday afternoon.
4/22 - 4:00 PM Boys Lacrosse Final Gill St. Bernard's 5 Pingry 6 Ziv came in on a heater with game-winning scores in one-goal thrillers against both Moorestown and Ridge earlier this month. In regulation against Gill St.
Bernard’s, it looked like he might have another game-defining goal. It didn’t hold up. Instead, it was a pass in extra time that grabbed this headline.
Ziv drew the eyes of the defense when he got the ball to start the second overtime period and he moved two long poles side to side with his gaze. In his own peripheral view, he saw exactly the look that Pingry was hoping for. Franklin and Marshall commit Jack Goodwin was all alone on the left, with a clear shot at the net.
He took the pass from Ziv, reared back and ripped it in. It was the ending of a classic 6-5 double overtime win for the Big Blue. “Their defense was shutting off Dylan (Blekicki) , so it opened up a lot of space,” said Goodwin, referring to Pingry’s leading scorer.
“We just swung the ball around, Jonah found me and I put the ball in the back of the cage. We have played in game like this all year, so once it hit OT, we knew we had it.” That moment in double overtime was set up by a bodycheck penalty that occurred with six seconds left in the first overtime period.
It was a much-needed break for Pingry, No. 5 in the NJ.com Top 20.
The Big Blue struggled at the faceoff X all afternoon. With a man-up chance, Pingry ran off the last few seconds of that period and headed to the sideline to prepare for 2OT. The Big Blue didn’t need to worry about a faceoff.
It was Pingry’s ball to start the period, with sophomore Gavin York starting the game-winning possession. Pingry fired off eight passes before Goodwin got the ball in his stick. The Big Blue also ran York through the middle of No.
15 Gill St. Bernard’s defense and rotated Ziv up top to clear space on the left side for a shot. Gill St.
Bernard’s put a lot of their defensive attention toward Ziv and Blekicki, a Yale commit, in the Top 20 matchup. The Knights dared someone else to step up for Pingry and beat them. Goodwin accepted the challenge.
“I knew (Jack) would bury it when I threw it too him,” said Ziv. “We just keep finding ways to win. I don’t think we’re as talented or as skilled as last year, but we have a gritty group of guys who knows how to win.
When we were down two at halftime today, we were all positive because we knew we’d come out on top.” Brandon Gould can be reached at [email protected] .
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