Garey’s two goals in final minute secures Aquinas its third boys’ lacrosse state title

Chase Garey saw two opportunities he didn’t want to squander.

Down 12-11 with just over a minute to play, the St. Thomas Aquinas senior midfielder trailed senior Gio Villasana on the left side. Villasana was doubled, and found a wide-open Garey who tied the game with a minute remaining.

Just 10.7 seconds later, Garey did it again. He fired a shot past the Ponte Vedra defense to give the Raiders a 13-12 win over the Sharks, and their third state championship in program history. It is Aquinas’ first since winning back-to-back titles in 2016-17.

“I think as a coach, there’s a feeling of solitude when you’re down with a couple of minutes to go,” St. Thomas coach Terry Crowley said. “I had to trust the system. I had to trust the coordinators. I could see the kids were grinding, and they weren’t gonna stop. To be honest, I was kind of comfortable. When we scored the first one and got the possession, I was like, ‘Something great’s going to happen’.

“Chase Garey is a four-year starter for us. He’s an ironman. He gets up and down the field, he had nothing left in his tank and said put me back in. (Jacob) Urbano couldn’t go anymore because he was cramping. What else can you say about that kid. He’s leaving here with a ring, thank goodness.”

St. Thomas was given the chance to tie the game with a little over 90 seconds remaining when a Ponte Vedra player was behind the Aquinas net trying to bleed clock, but stepped out of bounds. From there, the Raiders capitalized on both of their opportunities, leaving a Ponte Vedra team and coaching staff in pure disbelief postgame.

“As soon as that second goal went in, I’ll be honest, I was still in game mode,” Garey said. “But I started to feel it. I started to feel like it was time to put that ring on my finger, it’s about time I get that gold medal in my mouth. I’ve been waiting. I came to St. Thomas for this reason. It was a relief once the buzzer went off and the final six seconds trickled down. I ran back and was like, ‘I did it.’ I fulfilled what I came here for.”

“That’s when you see the opportunity,” Crowley added. “The offensive guys saw the opportunity. We had a chance, there was a crack in the goal, if you will, and we went right after him. It worked out well.”

After the game started three hours later than scheduled due to weather delays, the Sharks went down big early, trailing the Raiders 5-1 at the 11:01 mark in the second quarter. Ponte Vedra responded, scoring six goals across the final 10:54 of the second quarter to take a 7-6 lead at halftime.

Both sides continued to trade goals in the second half, including Ponte Vedra taking multiple two-goal leads in the third quarter. Jacob Urbano and Aquinas hung in the game, never going down by three goals during the duration of the contest.

“The whole game, we were pounding and grinding,” Crowley said. “I knew that’s a great coaching staff. (Chris) Polanski’s one of the best in the business. I knew they were going to come back. At 5-1, I said, ‘Here comes the run’. They certainly came back, and from there, it was run for run.

“Jacob Urbano, in my opinion, is the best player in the state of Florida. He does this every time. He does this every game he plays in. If it’s Jupiter, St. Andrew’s, he’s going to show up and he’s going to do his thing. He’s going to take control of the game, and he did it again tonight.”

Saturday night’s win over Ponte Vedra meant more for the 10 seniors, specifically Walter Lamon. The Flagler-bound goalie was in net for the 2019 Class 1A State Championship when he surrendered 19 goals to Ponte Vedra that year. In the 41 games that followed that loss and the 23 that preceded it, Lamon never allowed that many in a single game across his high school career.

“It was so sweet,” Lamon said of winning a state championship in his final high school game. “I played in that game in 2019, and it was a feeling I never wanted to have again. Thank God, and everyone else, all my players, my team, my coaches, everyone that helped me get the job done.

“That dogpile was something I’ve been waiting for for four years, honestly. Watching Ponte Vedra come and do it to us my freshman year, it kind of set a tone and put a toll on me. We worked together and made it happen.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 8:00 AM.