After a roller-coaster final, Mt. Hope boys lacrosse wins D-III title
· Yahoo Sports
PROVIDENCE – After coming up short in last season’s championship, Mt. Hope used those memories as fuel for its massive fourth-quarter comeback in a 12-9 victory over Lincoln to win the Division III boys lacrosse championship on Saturday, June 6.
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Despite multiple shots on goal in the first five minutes, the Huskies got off to a slow start, going up 1-0 before quickly falling behind 4-1. Lincoln’s Logan Szynal and Daniel London both started hot, each scoring two goals for the Lions, with Szynal even assisting on one of London’s goals.
With less than a minute until halftime, it looked as though Mt. Hope was due for a repeat of last season's disappointing finish. That’s when the offense finally came alive for the Huskies, who scored three goals in 50 seconds to tie the game at 4-4. Mt. Hope’s senior captain Charlie Knapman scored twice in just nine seconds.
“That run was very important; it changed everything for us,” Mt. Hope coach Jay Spina said. “Our guys came in a little flat; we had graduation yesterday, and we have a bunch of seniors.”
The Huskies might have been expected to carry that momentum into the second half, but Lincoln started with a 4-0 run, building their largest lead of the game. Szynal had once again taken over, scoring two more goals and assisting on another; Szynal finished the day with four goals and two assists.
Yet despite the Lions’ lead and Szynal’s dominance, the Huskies never flinched, falling back on their past experience.
“Play our game, take it to them. In that first half we got caught up letting them dictate the game for us,” Spina said. “In that fourth quarter we brought them in with those timeouts and said, ‘Listen, this is the time to do it.'”
The Huskies finished the third quarter with two quick goals while the Lions responded with one of their own. With the score at 9-6 with just under 10 minutes to go, the Huskies made two game-changing plays in the span of a minute. Goalie Ethan Labollita made a clutch save, which immediately turned into a goal for sophomore Brayden Vales. Labollita finished the game with eight saves, and, despite his difficult start, he never gave up.
“We just relied on what we used all year, and we have a really good group of guys who work hard every day in practice,” Labollita said. “I just kept telling them to keep believing, boys; we’re going to get this done. We never had a doubt in our minds. We were never worried. We were just ready for the next play.”
With victory back in their sights, the Huskies continued to pressure the Lions defense, and eventually the Mt. Hope offense broke through. Another experienced Huskies captain, senior Nathan Carpenter, scored the game-tying goal with 4:41 to go; he went on to score the dagger with 1:42 left.
“Being in this position last year, being down in the fourth quarter against Narragansett, we never wanted to feel that feeling again,” Carpenter said. “I was absolutely ecstatic for my team; we worked so hard to get here, and it’s just a great feeling.”
Carpenter added one more goal to his four-goal tally with a minute left on the clock, sealing the championship for Mt. Hope. After coming up short last season, this championship was more than satisfying for this large Huskies senior class.
As for Lincoln, they’re already looking ahead to next season and hoping to build on this year the same way their counterparts at Mt. Hope have.
“It’s hard, because at the beginning of this year and throughout this entire [season] we’ve preached one thing: We’re family,” Lincoln junior captain Joseph London said. “I couldn’t be more proud of this family today. We had each others' backs. The score sucks, but we got here, and we’re all proud of that.”
Many of Lincoln’s starters will be back next season, including Joseph’s brother Daniel.
“These seniors, I’m going to miss them. I love them; they’re great guys, but I feel like we have a very bright future,” Daniel London said. “I’m just hoping we can capitalize on this; it was a privilege to be here, and we have to remember that, and we have to hope to get that privilege again next year.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Mt. Hope tops Lincoln to win 2026 RIIL Division III boys lacrosse title