Back from lacerated kidney and spleen, James Carroll leading the way for BC High lacrosse
BOSTON – Although the BC High boys lacrosse team reached the Division 1 state final last spring, James Carroll’s season came to a premature end.
Carroll, who was a junior captain last spring, was injured in a 12-10 quarterfinal win over Acton-Boxborough. While checking an A-B player, Carroll caught an elbow to his stomach. That resulted in a lacerated spleen and kidney.
"It’s definitely scary,” said BC High senior Cooper Chapman, remembering Carroll’s injury. “Take lacrosse out of it, me and James have been best friends for a long time now. From a friend standpoint, I was definitely a little bit worried.”
Carroll spent the night in the hospital. He said he left straight from the hospital to attend the Eagles' 8-6 semifinal win over Lincoln-Sudbury three days after the A-B game. The injury kept him out of BC High’s final two games and kept him away from lacrosse activities for the summer.
“I trusted in God and trusted my doctors,” said Carroll, who will continue his lacrosse career at Georgetown. "I was at the hospital a lot.”
“I was checking in on him every day, making sure he was all right,” said Chapman. "At the end of the day, I had trust in his doctors, I had trust in his family and the guys around him that he was going to come back better than before, so I wasn’t too worried about it.”
Carroll’s mind stayed on lacrosse. He watched his Eagles, who had several other key players out due to injury, lose to St. John’s Prep for the second consecutive year in the state final.
His time away from the sport only increased his desire for the sport.
“I surrounded myself with guys who were going to push me when I came back,” said Carroll. “I really let that fire burn as I was watching everybody else be able to shoot balls.”
On Saturday, Carroll was at the center of BC High’s 14-5 win over Xaverian in the Division 1 quarterfinals. After Xaverian cut the deficit to 6-5 early in the second quarter, the Eagles' defense locked in. Carroll, a long-stick midfielder, helped keep the Hawks off the scoreboard for the final 32:44 of play, allowing BC High to end the game on an 8-0 run. The Eagles will meet No. 3 Acton-Boxborough in the state semifinals.
“This is my sixth year on this field and this is my last game (at home). You really want to leave absolutely everything out on Cotter Field today,” said Carroll. “I think we did that today.
“I like to share it with all of these guys, that you never know when it’s going to be your last time playing. You never know if one hit is going to take you out. It’s just that mentality of going as hard as possible.”
Dominant defense
The No. 7 Hawks had BC High on upset alert early. BC High saw a 5-2 first-quarter lead disintegrate in the final minute of the frame with two Xaverian goals. The second of those was a highlight-reel goal from Henry Hasselbeck, the son of Matt, the former NFL quarterback. Hasselbeck found twine with a backhand shot he took over his shoulder with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
Chapman (two goals, four assists) and Xaverian’s Dante Mariano traded goals early in the second quarter to make the score 6-5 with 8:44 remaining in the first half. The Hawks never scored again.
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“Super poised,” BC High coach Marcus Craigwell said of his defense. “When it was close, the defense allowed us more opportunities offensively. I knew with those opportunities they were going to start falling. We just had to trust in the process.”
Senior goaltender Andrew Toland made six saves, just two of which came during the Hawks' scoreless second half.
“(Jack) Pyne, James (are) shutdown,” said Chapman. “Marshall Rice and Hayes McCarron, those guys are lockdown. Goalies, we have the best goalie situation in the state (with Toland, Charlie McCullogh and Ben Flaherty), hands down. No one can question that. We’ve got Donovan Babka, kind of an under-the-radar guy, who knocks a lot of balls down. He (is) always working inside.”
Offensive output
Six different Eagles scored in the win. Patrick Maroney (assist) and Will Emsing (two assists) both had hat tricks.
Chapman had a game-high six points and assisted on three consecutive BC High goals in the middle frames. Nolan Hurley and Brody Rice (assist) also chipped in two goals. Carroll had a goal and an assist and Jack Geary scored BC High’s 14th goal.
What’s next?
The Eagles will play A-B in the semifinals (date, time and location TBD). BC High defeated the Revolution, 7-6, on April 18.
“They’re a different team, we’re a different team,” said Craigwell of A-B. “They’re super disciplined, well coached, they’ve got a bunch of really great athletes so we’ve got to play our best.”
The winner will advance to the state final. Top-seeded St. John’s Prep, which has defeated BC High in the last two finals, has already locked up a Final Four spot. SJP will play No. 5 Hingham, which defeated No. 4 Franklin, 9-6, on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: BC High boys lacrosse defeats Xaverian in Division 1 quarterfinals
