Cortina's overtime goal gives Spaulding boys lacrosse team its first win since 2018 season

ROCHESTER - Going into this season, you would have to go back to 2018 for the last time the Spaulding High School boys lacrosse team walked off the field with a win.

The Red Raiders went 1-12 in 2018, and then from 2019 to the start of the 2024 season, the program lost 60 straight games - 0-14 in 2019, 0-16 in 2021, 0-14 in 2022, and 0-16 in 2023.

Throw in a pair of losses to start this season - a 17-5 loss at Timberlane and a 12-0 loss to Merrimack Valley, and the losing streak had reached 62 straight games going into last Tuesday's game at Pembroke.

Enough was enough.

Freshman Rowan Hughes' goal late in the fourth quarter tied the game at 7-7, and then junior Seth Cortina scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of overtime, sending the Spaulding sideline into a frenzy with its 8-7 win.

"It was really exciting, the team was very pumped up," Cortina said. "We were just eager, we were hungry and we just wanted to get that goal. We wanted to win at whatever cost it took."

"Just excited for the guys," said Spaulding coach Brandon Dube, who came aboard at the start of the 2021 season. "It was good to see them close it out. It would have been a heartbreaker for them to get that close and then not get it. I was just excited for the guys."

Cortina, with the seconds ticking off the clock, saw the ball on the ground, picked it up and went on the attack.

"I went for a ground shot, and it just went in," Cortina said. "I was kind of shocked, but it went in. It was good to get our first win in five years, and see the team excited and just have that excitement around the whole team."

Senior captain Gannon Hughes had been working every day, and finally experienced a win.

"We've always been longing for that win," Hughes said, older brother of Rowan who scored the equalizer. "This has been a very special team to me, and it was very special to have my first win with my little brother ... it's been an important goal of ours to get our first win in five years.

"I was excited for (Rowan)," Hughes continued. "I knew we had to lock in and get that last (goal) to get the win. We knew we weren't going to leave that field without winning that game."

Cortina scored two goals, Rowan Hughes had a goal and an assist, and Wil Godbout, Jonas Levesque, Logan Hickman and Jackson Shapleigh and Gannon Hughes all scored in the win.

"I started behind the net," Rowan Hughes said on scoring the equalizer. "Just came around the crease and beat my defender."

Cortina said the team was 'locked in' going into overtime.

"We were just like the game is not over, anything can happen," he said. "We knew going into overtime, we weren't supposed to take it as a joke, and take every opportunity we could to try and win that game."

Dube gathered the team before the overtime session started and simply said 'we need one good shot, that's all it takes.'

"We got three good shots, and then Seth was able to pick up a ground ball and then bury one off a pretty good take from Wil (Godbout)," Dube said. "And kind of ended it right there."

Spaulding athletic director Kevin Hebert was also excited to see the Red Raiders pick up a win.

"Obviously, this is great for our coaches and for our kids as they've worked very hard over the last few years to improve the program," Hebert said. "We have a lot of great kids who have persevered, despite not having a lot of wins."

Dube also credited Cortina and his ability to win majority of all the faceoffs.

"They battled the whole game," Dube said of the team's effort. "They came out and surprised themselves a little bit, keeping up with a team that has beat us a whole bunch of times in the past."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Spaulding boys lacrosse team beats Pembroke for first win since 2018