'I was hoping that the ball would get to me': Michaud notches hat trick, Duplessis solid in net as Grafton tops St. John's in OT

GRAFTON — As time was winding down in the first overtime, senior captain Cam Michaud completed his hat trick.

After receiving a pass from junior Juan Scott, Michaud bounced his shot past St. John’s goaltender Aaron Ricketts for his third goal of the game, giving the Grafton boys' lacrosse team a thrilling 8-7 overtime victory over the visiting Pioneers.

“I saw that Juan had it, and he was in trouble, and I was hoping that the ball would get to me,” Michaud said. “I looked up, and the ball was coming at me, so I caught it and shot it and hoped for the best.”

It was the Gators’ first win over St. John’s in eight years.

“We just wanted it more,” Grafton senior goaltender Chad Duplessis said.

“We were both 0-2 against them coming in,” Michaud added. “It’s nice to get a win against them in our last year of high school.”

The Gators (3-2) nearly won it in regulation if it weren’t for St. John's Carson Reirden, who scored the tying goal off a rebound with 7 seconds left.

It was one of the few shots Duplessis couldn't handle, as the senior came up with big saves all night for the Gators, none bigger than helping kill off a two-man-down penalty in the second quarter. Duplessis aggressively left his crease and knocked the ball free from a St. John's attacker before a teammate was able to scoop up the loose ball and clear it.

“I knew exactly what play they were going to run,” said Duplessis who made 12 saves on 19 shots. “I didn’t even know he lost the ball so I was bugging a little bit about that, I don’t know it was just instinct.”

Grafton coach Alan Rotatori knew Duplessis was in the zone during warmups.

“Chad, he’s been playing very well for the first four games,” Rotatori said. “But I could tell (in warmups) because I warm him up and not one ball got by him. I’m no slouch shooting, and I was shooting pretty hard against him, but he was moving a lot quicker than he normally does in game day warmups, and at that point, I was like, ‘He is locked in,’ "

The game was close throughout as neither team led by more than two goals. Grafton jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals from Owen Klumpenaar (2 goals) and Arlind Jahja (2 goals, assist). However St. John’s (2-4) used a scoring surge, with Matt Lemay netting a pair and Charlie Carlstrom and Dom Reidy adding goals to take a 4-2 lead before Jahja and Michaud tied it up going into the half.

John Osborne put the Pioneers ahead with 6:33 left in the third quarter, but Scott added a goal with 34 seconds left in the third as the teams entered the last period tied, 5-5.

Grafton started the period strong as Klumpenaar scored his second with 9:09 left in the game, and Michaud potted his second 19 seconds later, forcing the Pioneers to call a timeout. That seemed to settle down St. John's, which responded 7 seconds later with a goal from senior Owen Naber.

—Contact Ethan Winter at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EWints.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Michaud finishes off hat trick in OT to lift Grafton past St. John's