Collegiate took a five goal lead in the first quarter, then pulled away to defeat rival St. Christopher's 14-3 in front of packed stands.

Clay Timmons scored the first of his four goals with 10:44 to play in the first. Jacob Oliver scored on a Timmons assist less than two minutes later to take a 2-0 lead.

"We got really jacked up before the game," senior attack Ben Sauer said. "We came out and had a really good warm up and it just flowed into the start of the game."

Saints' attacker Sandy Wall cut that lead in half with 5:44 remaining, but the Cougars closed the quarter with a flurry. Midfielder Thomas Wood scored both of his goals and Sauer picked up the first of his four in the final three minutes.

"A penalty play was called and so we had an extra man advantage," Sauer said. " . . . We just kept going from there."

Saints standout midfielder Neil McGroarty left with an injury before the start of the second quarter. The Cougars took a 10-2 lead into halftime.

"It's usually a knock down, drag out, goal to goal game," Saints coach Sherman Horner said. "We were hoping to get it like that today."

St. Christopher's got pressure around Collegiate keeper Matt Ruscio in the second half. Timmons scored twice more for the Cougars, though, and Ruscio finished the game with 17 saves.

"Jess Hawthorne . . . was winning a ton of faceoffs. And it's happened to us before," Wood said. "It's really hard to try to get back into a game when the goalie is saving everything you shoot at him and then the other team goes down, scores a goal, and gets the ball right back off the faceoff."

The game started later in the afternoon than Collegiate usually plays, accommodating fans' enthusiasm for a friendly rivalry. "It's the biggest game of the year," Ruscio said. "You come out here and the people . . . who played at Collegiate 30 years ago come out here and watch the game. They're talking trash to their other teammates, the people they played with. It's a big deal to the team. It's just a big deal to the fans and the town in general."

The Saints lingered on the field, talking with Collegiate players, before heading to the bus. Horner and Collegiate coach Andrew Stanley stopped to talk about mutual opponents.

"There's nothing like high school lacrosse, the brotherhood, the friendships you have," Wood said. "And beating your rival, St. Chris-Collegiate game. The stands were packed today. What a fun environment."

St. Christopher's ------------------------- 1 1 2 0 -- 4
Collegiate ------------------------- 6 4 3 0 -- 13

SC: Farinholt, Wall, Parrish, Johnson

C: Timmons 4, Sauer 4, Wood 2, Hawthorne, Stites, Oliver

Assists: Lynde, Reinhardt,

Saves: Kirby (SC) 13, Ruscio (C) 17

Records: St. Christopher's 7-6; Collegiate 11-5