Holding the lead most of the game against St. Joseph, Greenwich’s boys lacrosse team was well positioned to enjoy a successful Senior Day at before its home crowd at Cardinal Stadium.

Yet, the Cadets had different plans.

St. Joseph scored the only three goals of the fourth quarter, erasing a two-goal deficit in an 11-10 comeback win over Greenwich. The tough loss in the regular-season finale put the Cardinals’ overall record at 6-10 and prevented them from qualifying for the CIAC Class L Tournament.

Greenwich needed seven wins to make the Class L state tourney and despite being No. 9 in the Class L rankings and playing a tough schedule – their strength of schedule was among the best in the state – its six victories kept them out of the state tournament. A number of teams that won more games, but did not have as tough a schedule, will qualify for the Class L Tournament.

“Unfortunately, the loss knocks us out of the CIAC tournament, something that may need to be addressed by the state committee as we work through a two-tiered FCIAC conference and using Laxnumbers as a seeding format,” Greenwich coach Bobby Lutz said. “It’s hard to have a team like Greenwich, arguably a top ten team in the state, not qualify because we played the sixth hardest schedule in Class L and lost too many games against top opponents.”

Greenwich’s season isn’t over, however. The Cardinals are seeded sixth in the FCIAC and will play third-seeded New Canaan in today’s 3 p.m. FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals at New Canaan.

In Wednesday’s matchup against St. Joseph, which is seeded seventh in the FCIAC Tournament and will play at second-seeded Staples today, sophomore Colin Zeller recorded four goals and one assist, while sophomore Mikey Brescia added a hat trick with an assist for the Cardinals.

Senior captain Brian Collins registered one goal and three assists and senior Matthew Trimmer, also a captain, tallied twice for Greenwich on its Senior Day and its last home game of the 2023 season.

The Cardinals led throughout the third quarter and went into the fourth quarter with a 10-8 advantage, before the Cadets made their comeback.

“They are a good team, they have some good shooters and we’re still dealing with some injuries on defense,” Lutz said. “We’re trying to switch it up. The offense was clicking and we got some goals.

“We had a great day from both our FOGO and goalie, but the narrative for the season remained the same: we just could not get over the lack of experience and depth,” Lutz continued.

Ahead 9-6, the Cards’ lead against the Cadets was cut to 9-8 late in the third quarter. Senior Raffe Katts scored with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter, then senior Ryan DeMarco tallied from eight yards out at the 3:10 mark of the quarter, bringing St. Joseph to within 9-8.

Greenwich took a two-goal lead into the final quarter, courtesy of Brescia. The sophomore attack intercepted a pass and proceeded to score with just four seconds to play in the third quarter.

With the score 10-9 in favor of GHS, Katts put a low shot past sophomore goalie Ilan Amaro, tying the score at 10-10 with 5:25 to go in the fourth quarter.

John Karafa, a senior, tallied the game-winner for St. Joseph with 1:54 left in the fourth quarter, making it 11-10. Amaro made 15 saves in goal for the Cardinals, while junior Lane Critchell won 16 of the 21 faceoffs he took.

“We have some guys out there who are first-year varsity players and in games like this there is no experience to build on,” Lutz noted. “So by the time our freshmen and sophomores are seniors, they will be through this tenfold. Right now, are first-year varsity players are experiencing close games like this for the first time.”

Junior Jimmy Flinn posted two assists, freshman Boden Farmer assisted on two goals and junior Adam Kim had one assist for the Cardinals, who paid tribute to their six seniors with a pregame Senior Day ceremony.

“Our seniors have had an amazing presence,” Lutz said. “It’s a great group to be around and we’re going to miss them.”