Desales rolls into state championship game
BELLBROOK — Desales boys lacrosse coach Matt Triplet and his staff quickly noticed a trend while studying film of their Division II state semifinal opponent, Cincinnati Mariemont.
“They haven’t had a team push back at them the entire year with the exception of (Cincinnati) Moeller,” Triplet said. “No team has really taken the fight right to them ... and that’s what we did. We stopped their transition game and limited the touches for their best guys. We pressured outside and forced them to their off hand and created some turnovers.”
Desales rarely let the Warriors gain lasting momentum after an early flurry, holding the defending state champions scoreless for 14:56 spanning the first and second quarters to build a five-goal halftime lead on the way to a 14-8 win.
David Chintala’s three goals and two assists, and three goals apiece from Blake Carawan and Jackson Carawan, led the way. Desales (15-4) will play Chagrin Falls in the state final at 1 p.m. Saturday at Historic Crew Stadium. Desales lost to Chagrin Falls 10-9 on April 2.
The Stallions are making their first appearance in a final since 2018, when they won the title.
Desales’ Will Jordan dominated the faceoff circle, winning 22 of 26 on the night.
The game was tied at 1, 2 and 3 before Chintala and Liam Harmon scored late in the first. Jackson Carawan and Chintala each scored twice in the second, and the Stallions led 10-5 at halftime.
“At the beginning of the season, we wouldn’t jump on teams,” said Chintala, who has a team-leading 78 goals. “It was a recurring theme that we’d be down early. We’ve taken an aggressive approach and had a chip on our shoulder.”