Boys lacrosse: Highland stuns Wadsworth in overtime

WADSWORTH — One year to the day, the Highland boys lacrosse team came from behind to stun Medina County rival Wadsworth in overtime. This time, senior Jon Tanski fired a game-winning goal off an assist by Eli Howard on Wednesday to send the Hornets home 4-3 victors in a key early Suburban League game at Art Wright Memorial Stadium. Last season on April 8, Highland defeated the Grizzlies 9-8 in overtime on the same field. Storms eight days ago forced the teams to postpone this year's scheduled meeting at Highland's North Gateway Tire Stadium, and scheduling conflicts with the Hornets' home turf forced a venue change. "I'm stoked," Tanski said. "The same thing happened last year, we went into overtime. We've got to play all four quarters here, against all the odds, man down, everything." It was the third straight win over Wadsworth (5-2, 1-1) for Highland (3-1, 3-0). The Grizzlies, who beat the Hornets in 2022 and 2023, have lost two in a row this season after beginning with a five-game winning streak. "The majority of the game was spent on defense for us," Wadsworth senior Deacon Johnson said. "We really just need to work on our clearing. Our offense played pretty decent. We had some nicely timed shots, but they just weren't falling for us." Johnson gave Wadsworth, which saw a half-dozen balls hit off the goal frame, its second lead with a little less than five minutes left when he wrapped around the goal for a 3-2 advantage. Highland's Beckett Mast changed all that when he took a feed from Howard and tied with 4:22 remaining in regulation. "We stuck together," Mast said. "We kept in there and were just fighting for each other." In a defensive battle, Highland finished just a little stronger, as goalie Josh DeSimone (6 saves) and the starting back line of Justin Weaver, Josh Messina, Tommy Fearn and Matt Merhar led an effort that saw the Hornets hold the Grizzlies scoreless for nearly 19 minutes to close the game. DeSimone made one of his best saves when he stopped Brad Watson at close range with 23 seconds left in regulation. "(Our defense) did not stop," Mast said. "They were after every single thing. Josh DeSimone in goal, an absolute brick wall. Absolute stud in there." Wadsworth goalie Zach Kiko (8 saves) and the defense led by seniors Eddie Gale and Jordan Jones were just as good through regulation and the first two minutes of overtime before Tanski's winner. The Grizzlies held the Hornets scoreless for 25:32 after Howard gave Highland a 1-0 advantage with 7:02 remaining in the first period. The biggest difference was the Hornets' ability to get the ball back quickly after a turnover to keep the pressure on, especially as the game wore on. "Our clearing definitely needs some work," Johnson said. "We work on it quite a bit at practice, but that's pretty much our biggest downfall right now." Wadsworth tied with 4:00 left in the first on a goal by Watson shortly after he grabbed a turnover in the Grizzlies' offensive end. Watson then gave his team a 2-1 lead when he scored off a pass by Johnson with 38 seconds left before halftime. Highland seemed to grab back momentum when junior Ryan Thompson tied the game 2-2 with 5:30 left in the third period, ending the Hornets' longest scoreless streak. However, Johnson came back 42 seconds later with a go-ahead goal with 4:48 remaining in the period. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.