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Kilbourne Ends UA's Reign in Lacrosse

Jun. 6, 2009

Worthington Kilbourne's Will Campbell might have not attempted his unconventional shot in the Division I boys lacrosse state final yesterday had the game been in the waning moments.

But with the Upper Arlington defense overpursuing and stopping any opportunity for Campbell to shoot with his natural right hand, he decided to spin and shoot left-handed early in the fourth quarter. It didn't feel great, but Campbell hoped it would work.

It did. He put the Wolves up by one goal nearly a minute into the fourth quarter. Drew Roper scored another goal, and Kilbourne held on to beat host Upper Arlington 7-6 yesterday in a rematch of last year's final.

Kilbourne (21-2) won its first title while ending Upper Arlington's streak of five consecutive championships.

"The way they run their defense, I knew I could get off that left-handed shot," Campbell said. "I'm not a big fan of shooting like that, but it was the last game of the season and I felt like I had to step up and take that shot."

Kilbourne looked like it wouldn't need such heroics early. Christian Sorensen and Kevin Mack scored 62 seconds apart to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead four minutes in.

But Kilbourne went scoreless for nearly 23 minutes. That didn't matter for most of the first half, with Cole Horwatt making multiple saves. But Upper Arlington (18-3) scored three goals in the final 2:24 of the half, including one by Alex Drake with 18.3 seconds remaining, to take a halftime lead.

"We were down in the first game (a 10-8 Kilbourne win in late April) and we were able to come back, so that motivated us because we knew we could do it," Sorensen said.

UA took a 4-2 lead on a Spencer Parsons goal two minutes into the third quarter. Kilbourne countered with three goals in a span of 2:30 for a 5-4 lead. Luke Treece of Upper Arlington tied the score at 5 with 5:50 left in the third.

Sorensen and Roper then gave Kilbourne some breathing room in the fourth, though another Parsons goal cut the lead to one with 6:50 left.

Upper Arlington had chances to tie, but one shot hit the post and Horwatt made several saves down the stretch. He finished with 17, including one with 21 seconds left.

"When you have a goalie playing the way he does, that leads to defensive confidence, and our kids knew they weren't going to score more goals than we were going to score today," Kilbourne coach Mike Riffee said.