Spencer Will stands tall in goal as Cold Spring Harbor boys lacrosse advances to state final

ALBANY — At the end of nearly every lacrosse game, the winning team rushes to the goalkeeper to begin the postgame celebration. Spencer Will certainly deserved that after his final two minutes Wednesday.

The senior goalkeeper made three of his six saves over the final two minutes, including stopping a wraparound shot with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter as Cold Spring Harbor defeated Briarcliff, 8-7, in the boys lacrosse state Class D semifinals at SUNY Albany’s John Fallon Field Wednesday afternoon.

Cold Spring Harbor (17-1) advances to play Chenango Forks (19-2) in the state Class D final at Hofstra Saturday at 10 a.m. Briarcliff finished 17-5.

One of the strongest attributes a goalkeeper can have is composure. Will displayed this both on and off the field Wednesday.

“I knew I needed to make the saves at the end there,” he calmly stated. “It was the same as always. Just see it, save it. It can’t be anything different. I couldn’t get antsy. Just had to explode to the ball and I really threw my whole body into that last one and was able to make the save.”

Will’s teammates, however, added more color to the goalkeeper’s performance.

“He was standing on his head,” senior Jake Rogers said. “He’s been make or break for us all year. For him to stay composed like that in the final seconds of the game, I don’t know how he did it but he was outstanding.”

Rogers fired the winning goal off an assist from Ryan Spielberger to break a tie at 7 with 5:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rogers, who scored three goals, admitted he wasn’t satisfied with his early performance and was determined to finish the contest better.

“I was down on myself at first half,” Rogers said. “I had a pretty [bad] first half in my opinion but we knew it wasn’t over. I knew I had to be an ‘X’ factor and I had to do something for my team if we were going to get the win. And I did.”

Cold Spring Harbor trailed, 4-3, at halftime before Rogers scored 15 seconds into the third quarter off an assist from Max Hawkinson to tie the score at 4. CJ Reilly and Hayden Calabretta scored the game’s next two goals to give Cold Spring Harbor a 6-4 lead before Briarcliff scored three goals in less than 2:30 to take a 7-6 lead with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

Reilly, who had three goals, scored to tie it at 7 with 9:34 left in the fourth quarter before Rogers’ winner.

“We could have hung our head there and we didn’t,” coach Dennis Bonn said. “We just kept battling and battling.”

Cold Spring Harbor is one victory away from its first state title since 2017. And the Seahawks love that the opportunity comes on Long Island.

“We’re all hyped up,” Rogers said. “We’re not going to lose on our home island.”