Cheshire Ends Fairfield Prep's Three-Year Reign As SCC Lacrosse Champs

That Cheshire ended Fairfield Prep's three-year reign as Southern Connecticut Conference lacrosse champions Friday afternoon might not be considered surprising.

How the Rams did it, however, was nothing less than shocking.

Todd Heritage scored five goals, as Cheshire broke open a close game in the second half to rout Fairfield Prep, 13-5, at Branford High School.

The proud Jesuits (14-5) aren't used to being embarrassed like this in the postseason, and senior captain Brendan Rotanz offered a fairly harsh assessment of the defending four-time state champions.

"We're not the same team that we were when we started (the season)," Rotanz said. "We've lost all our chemistry. Cheshire is a great team but for our offense to only have five goals, it's unacceptable."

The Jesuits battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the contest, 3-3, on goals by Rotanz and Griff McGoldrick 24 seconds apart in the first minute of the second quarter.

Fairfield Prep, however, allowed a killer goal in the final minute of the first half, when it appeared the teams would head to the intermission tied. The Jesuits couldn't clear a loose ball in the crease, and it rolled into the net with 68 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Rams a 4-3 halftime lead.

The goal seemed to deflate the Jesuits, as they unraveled in the second half, when they were outscored, 9-2.

"We're playing a one-man team, basically," Rotanz added. "We're not passing the ball and we just have to come back for the states and change everything. We got to get back to the drawing board and just figure out what we're doing wrong."

The Jesuits, who are seeded fourth in the Class L, do have time to regroup, as they don't play their first state  tournament game until Thursday, when they host No. 13 Southington at Alumni Field.

But it seems quite apparent that the road to the state championship is going to run through Cheshire, which also is in Class L and now has two wins over the Jesuits this year. The Rams also beat Prep in Fairfield, 9-8, during the regular season.

"I don't expect anything less for them than to get to the finals," senior Darric White said. "I'd definitely love to get one more shot at them."

The teams are on the opposite ends of the draw, so if the Jesuits do get another crack at the Rams, it would be in the state finals. A possible semifinal matchup against No. 2 Staples, which went undefeated in the regular season, looms for the Jesuits.

Fairfield Prep, however, has a lot to work on until then.

The Jesuits suffered a number of defensive breakdowns in the second half and goaltender Gil Long, who made seven saves, was pulled after Colby Olin's goal gave Cheshire a 7-4 lead with 5:07 left in the third.

"Their transition game was very good," White added. "They must have gotten seven or eight, maybe nine goals, on transition. They just finished the ball. They'd go to Heritage every time and he finished the ball."

Heritage's fourth goal made it 9-4 with 1:57 left in the third, and it became quite clear there was going to be a new SCC champion. The Rams poured it on in the fourth, scoring the final four goals of the contest.

"Like I said, this isn't the same team," Rotanz added. "We really aren't playing together. I don't know what it is. As captains, we got to get together and figure out what's going on with this team."

"We need to work on team chemistry," White added. "We need to play as a team, especially on offense, and also on defense. We don't talk on defense at all and scoring five goals in a game, you're just not going to cut it."

McGoldrick had two goals for Prep, and Rotanz, Harrison Cotter and Thomas Intrieri added one apiece.

Kevin Adams and Lucas Dennison each netted a pair for Cheshire. Olin, Mike Jordan, Nick Carisio and Nick Guarino all scored  once for the Rams. Heritage was named the game's Most Valuable Player.