Lancers survive late comeback by Bears

Freshman CJ Landry scooped up a loose ball near midfield and took off toward the Stonington goal. Once in prime shooting range, Landry unleashed a laser and the ball rippled the back of the net for the game-opening goal about two minutes in.

Senior goalie Jacob Kozlowski led a stingy and disruptive defense, making several spectacular saves to keep the Bears off the scoreboard. He was named the winner of the James J. Courtney Award that goes to the most outstanding player in the championship game.

The Bears fell into a 5-1 hole by halftime.

Landry struck a deadly blow by firing in a goal just before the halftime buzzer. It was his third goal of the first half.

Zimmermann also scored, taking advantage of a man-up situation to make it 3-0. Junior Trevor Stringer had the assist.

Stonington finally broke through the defensive wall and got on the board, as Nathan Huynh scored a man-up goal to cut the gap to 3-1 in the second quarter.

Fifty-four seconds later, Waterford responded. Junior Jackson Huta converted from close range at the 5:03 mark.

Things got really interesting in the second half.

Stonington finally found some offensive rhythm and scored two goals — one from Ethan Mahoney, the other from Tyler Simao — 1:14 apart late in the third quarter to cut the gap to 5-3.

The Bears kept up the pressure in the fourth quarter, dominating possession. Kozlowski made a big stop and then smothered another hard low shot. The Bears misfired on a few other good chances.

The Bears finally broke through again, as Huynh and Massengale scored to stun the Lancers and force overtime.