Heritage withstands late rally to top Wakefield in boys lacrosse

A late rally by Wakefield wasn’t quite enough to keep the Heritage boys lacrosse team from its winning ways, as the host Huskies earned their sixth straight victory Tuesday with a 17-15 win over the Wolverines in a Cap-8 Conference contest.

In a showdown of top-10 teams in The News & Observer rankings – Wakefield is ranked eighth and Heritage is 10th – Seneca had four goals and three assists, Ryan Cornell added three goals and an assist and Dominic Manzo had three goals for Heritage (8-3), which has averaged 18 goals a match during its six-match winning streak.

The Huskies seemed to be in good shape when Tristano Manzo scored with 9 minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter for a 15-9 lead. However, Wakefield (7-4) answered back with five straight goals.

Kevin Ritter started the surge when he scored with 8:26 to go, and Cooper McCaskel concluded it nearly three minutes later when his goal brought Wakefield within 15-14 with 5:29 left.

Cornell, though, would eventually help restore some breathing room for Heritage. He scored on a low shot off an assist from Tristano Manzo with 4:39 left, and after a steal by teammate Evan Savage halted a potential scoring opportunity for Wakefield, Cornell scored again moments later off an assist from Seneca to give Heritage a 17-14 lead with 3:30 remaining.

“I think we just kept pushing in transition,” said Heritage coach Cameron Ferguson, whose team shook off an early 5-3 deficit by scoring 11 of the next 14 goals. “We’re a great team in transition, that’s one of our strengths. We have fast attackmen, Seneca is a great player. ... I just told my guys, we’ve been down in other games and come back. It’s just a mental thing, you know you can do it and not to get down.”

McCaskel had seven goals and Ritter three goals and two assists to pace Wakefield.

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Heritage withstands late rally to top Wakefield in boys lacrosse."