Boys lacrosse: Colton Foust's sudden-death goal lifts Highland over Wadsworth

WADSWORTH — In a game filled with potential heroes Tuesday night, Colton Foust stood tallest. Foust rallied the defending Suburban League champion Highland boys lacrosse team with a sudden-death goal to defeat Wadsworth 9-8 in overtime. Foust scored with 2:09 left in the four-minute extra session for Highland's second consecutive win over its Medina County rival. "(Wadsworth's) a tough team, and that's a hard-fought win," he said. "It's hard to comeback when you're down at the end, but I'm so proud of my boys for pulling it together. "Everybody talks about getting the game-winner in overtime, and finally being able to do it after working my whole life for it, I'm overjoyed." Before Foust's heroics, Beckett Mast forced overtime with a goal off an assist by Dillon Buran with 25 seconds left in regulation. The score came after Wadsworth rebounded from a 6-4 deficit with 10:58 left to take a one-goal lead twice. "Beckett's goal really put a spark back in us," Highland junior Henry Trausch said. "We were losing motivation by the second, and once Beckett got the game all tied up, everyone's heart lifted. We had the motivation again and followed through with the win." Trausch had previously tied the game 7-7 with 3:58 remaining with his second goal. The junior attack finished with a team-high four points on two goals and two assists. The comeback gave the Hornets (3-1, 2-0) a leg up on the 2023 SL champion Grizzlies (3-2, 1-1) in the league race. Wadsworth outscored Highland 5-3 in the final quarter, including three goals by senior Tristan Pitts that either tied the game or gave the Grizzlies a lead in the final 8:16 of regulation. "We focused up in that last quarter," Pitts said. "It was one of the best quarters of lacrosse we've played all season." That scoring spurt nearly made up for a 24:57 stretch that ran from 6:50 left in the first quarter to 5:53 left in the third quarter in which Wadsworth went without a goal. "We need to work on moving the ball without making stupid mistakes," Pitts said. "Silly mistakes killed us in this game. We have to play all four quarters and not be a one-quarter team." Outside of Trausch, Highland got two goals and one assist by Dillon Buran and two goals each by Mast and Foust. Wadsworth was led by Jackson Erksa's three goals and one assist. Preston Davis added one goal and two assists, while Cam Croley had two assists. The eight combined goals in the final quarter flipped the script on what was a very defensive game. Highland's Matthew Steinmetz made nine saves in goal, while Ben Fisher made eight for the Grizzlies. "This win was huge," Foust said. "A huge Suburban League game and Wadsworth has been a rival of ours for a while. To be able to come out and beat them like we did this early sets the tone for the rest of the season." The combination of Davis and Erksa gave Wadsworth a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. Davis answered a goal by Highland's Jon Tanski to begin the scoring, with Erksa setting him up with a nice assist with 9:44 left in the first quarter. Erksa then scored off a Davis assist with 6:50 left. That's where scoring stayed until Buran got a loose ball and scored with 7:51 left in the first half. Mast gave the Hornets a 3-2 halftime lead with his unassisted goal with 2:35 left in the second quarter. Highland got goals from Buran and Foust in the third quarter, while Erksa scored again off a Davis feed to send the Hornets into the final quarter with a 5-3 lead. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.