Manhasset claims OT win over Garden City in 139th Woodstick Classic

There had been several twists and turns in the wind and the rain.

The Woodstick Classic, edition No. 139, would have to be decided in overtime.

It lasted just 12 seconds Saturday on defending Class B state champ Garden City’s home turf.

Cal Girard, the outstanding Duke-bound senior faceoff specialist for defending Class C state champ Manhasset, won his 19th at the X in 19 tries, and Harvard-bound senior midfielder Jack Petersen turned it into the winner with his second goal of the day.

Manhasset fell behind by five, but it rallied to beat the Trojans, 9-8, after losing to them in OT in edition No. 138 last year.

“It’s amazing,” Peterson said after Manhasset went up 76-63 in this lacrosse series. “We’ve been playing them since kindergarten.

“We love winning these games. They always mean a little bit more to us even if they’re not in our conference.”

Liam Connor and Matt Cargiulo posted three goals and one assist apiece to also help Manhasset remain undefeated at 10-0. But the biggest difference maker was Girard.

“Cal’s an All-American for a reason,” Manhasset coach Keith Cromwell said. “He’s one of the best at that position. He did his job extremely well today. We wouldn’t be where we are without him.”

Henry Gibbons had sliced Manhasset’s 8-6 lead to one with 3:03 left in regulation, beating Matthew Im, who made seven saves.

Stevie Finnell followed with his third, delivering with 1:26 to go off a run down the middle to tie it 8-8.

So what was Girard thinking before the faceoff to open overtime? Well, he remembered losing in OT last year.

“That was definitely going through my mind,” Girard said. “I definitely wanted to get this one back.”

Girard sent the ball back to Petersen. And Petersen took off down the left side of the field before ultimately beating Denis Fargione, who had stopped 10 shots.

“They pressured me out pretty far, so I tried to run by them,” Petersen said. “No one really slid, and I had a free open shot.”

Cargiulo gave Manhasset a 7-6 lead 1:02 into the fourth. Danny Kolin made it a two-goal edge with 6:53 remaining, capping a run of six unanswered goals.

Garden City, which fell to 7-4, had led 5-0 when Finnell scored with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

But Petersen gave Manhasset a jump-start, scoring with 5.6 seconds to go in the period. Connor fed Cargiulo for a goal in the second quarter. So it was 5-2 at halftime. The margin expanded to 6-2 early in the third.

Then Cargiulo found Connor for a goal before coming out from behind the net to fire in one of his own.

Connor soon scored two more and it was 6-6 heading for the fourth.

“One thing our coaches are always preaching to us is never get too high, never get too low, just kind of stay somewhere in the middle,” Connor said. “I think we did a really good job of that, responding after] being down. It shows we’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of heart on this team.”

The Trojans showed the same thing with their late comeback.

“The kids played really hard,” coach Steve Finnell said. “ . . . I think we’re a very good team. I think that was evident today.”