By Andy Hutchison

WESTPORT — Down but far from out, the Staples High boys lacrosse team rallied from a seven-goal deficit to overcome the visiting Darien Blue Wave and post a 13-11 win on a damp, foggy Saturday early evening.

After falling behind 8-1, the Wreckers began to chip away and got to within 8-4 at halftime. 

Jay Anastasi kept winning faceoffs and the team kept scoring goals. Next thing visiting FCIAC rival Darien knew Staples claimed the lead on Gavin Rothenberg’s second tally in just 13 seconds. It was 12-11 with 3:37 to play.

The Wreckers put together three late defensive stands, behind the goaltending efforts of Scott Kosakowski. Darien pulled its goaltender out of a stoppage and Tyler Clark cashed in by hitting the empty net from long range, his fourth goal of the evening, with 37 seconds to go.

“I think we hold ourselves to a really high standard. We want to be the best we can be and win every game,” said Staples Coach Will Koshansky, who said the Wreckers made some adjustments at halftime.

The Wreckers aimed to take advantage of offensive plays that were working and made some marking adjustments on the defensive end of the field.

“I’ve got a fantastic coaching staff,” said Koshansky, crediting his assistants for working well with the goaltending and faceoff elements of the game.

Darien went up 9-4 early in the second half, but Staples outscored the Wave 5-2 in the third quarter to pull to within a goal at 10-9.

Staples had a quick answer to Darien’s 10th goal as Anastasi won the draw and set up Clark just six seconds later and with 59 seconds to go in the stanza.

The same thing happened in the fourth. After Darien scored while on a player advantage, Anastasi won the ensuing faceoff and assisted Mike Nealon 10 seconds later, bringing the Wreckers to within 11-10 with 7:06 to play.

Cam Prior assisted Rothenberg’s first goal and Nealon set up his go-ahead tally, capping a pretty passing sequence.

“I’m just very proud of the way the boys responded in a really tough situation,” Koshansky said.

Anastasi and Cisco Celotto have shared faceoff duties this spring, and thrived in helping the Wreckers gain possession. Ben Burmeister had three goals in the win.

“At the end of the day it’s not our biggest goal,” Anastasi, who came away with a whopping 20 draw wins, said of Staples overcoming Darien. “But it feels really great to get this win.”

The Wreckers, of course, are looking for another state championship.

Staples improved to 5-0. The Wreckers beat visiting Massapequa, N.Y., on April 13. Rothenberg scored five times, Clark had two goals and two assists, Adam Udell had a goal and three assists and Burmeister had two net-finders and an assist.

Anastasi and Celotto combined to win 19 of 26 faceoffs. Kosakowski made nine saves and allowed only three during his time in net in this one.

Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories in Fairfield County, since the 1990s. Learn more about us here.