Brunswick School’s varsity lacrosse team seems to have mastered the art of winning, dramatic, edge-of-your-seat, one-goal games.

Heading into the semifinal-round of the 2026 Prep Nationals Tournament, the Bruins had nine one-goal victories to their record, three of which were by the overtime variety. Well, the Bruins added their 10th, thrilling one-goal triumph to their ledger Friday night at Cosby Field, edging out of state rival Lawrenceville School, 16-15, in double overtime to earn a spot in the championship game of the Prep Nationals.

Brunswick (16-3), which entered this week ranked No. 1 in the USA Lacrosse National High School Rankings, hosts NEPSAC rival Deerfield Academy in today’s 2 p.m. Prep Nationals Tournament final. With the game hanging in the balance between nationally ranked Brunswick and Lawrenceville, senior captain Lucas Garcia provided the game winner with 3:25 remaining in the second overtime.

Garcia’s goal from the right wing from approximately six yards out, sent Brunswick into today’s National Preps title game. After Garcia tallied the game-winner, it was celebration time for the Bruins, who were enthusiastically greeted by hundreds of their fans, who packed Cosby Field.

After the emotional victory, Garcia discussed his goal, which propelled the Bruins back into the tournament’s championship game. In 2025, Brunswick was defeated by Salisbury School in the National Prep semifinals.

“Lawrenceville’s defense was playing great all game, we were finally getting the ball moving through X, we put up 15 or 16 goals, which is great,” said Garcia, who will continue his lacrosse career at the University of Virginia. “My teammates gave me the opportunity, they gave me the space to go up the right alley there. Someone set a great pick and I was able to put it through the goalie’s legs.”

As they have all season, the Bruins had to battle through adversity to pull out the victory. Trailing Lawrenceville, 15-13, late in the fourth quarter, the hosts rallied to score twice, sending the matchup into overtime.

The Big Red took a 15-13 lead with a goal at the 8:26 mark of the fourth quarter. The score remained the same until sophomore attack Austin Tuttle tallied with 3:15 remaining, bringing ‘Wick to within 15-14. Lawrenceville had possession of the ball with two minutes left to play and again with less than one minute remaining, but the Bruins forced a key turnover, giving themselves a chance to score the equalizer.

Narrowly escaping defeat, the determined Bruins recorded the clutch goal they needed, courtesy of Tuttle. Sophomore attack Hunter Hanford, positioned behind the goal, sent a pass to Tuttle, who converted his shot from close in, tying the score, 15-15 with only 19.3 seconds left in the final quarter.

“It’s been a crazy season, we’re used to it now,” Tuttle said of the Bruins winning so many one-goal games. “Our coaches have done such a great job of preparing us for this in practice.”

Brunswick and Lawrenceville played to a 7-7 standstill in the first quarter, which was not a surprise, considering the history the teams share. The Bruins pulled out a 9-8 overtime win at Lawrenceville on April 8 and have been involved with numerous close encounters with their rival from New Jersey over the years.

“Credit to Lawrenceville, they’re such a great team,” said Bruins junior midfielder/faceoff man MJ Maraglino, who took a lot of the squad’s faceoffs against Lawrenceville. “They always have a battle with us and we go toe-to-toe with them all the time.”

Maraglino also aided the Bruins’ cause offensively generating a key goal.

“All glory to God and I’m so thankful for my teammates and to be a part of something like Brunswick School, where the culture is amazing,” Maraglino said. “You see the crowd and all the energy and all the hype about this game.”

Tuttle gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead scoring off a pass from senior attack Sean Ryan with 10:52 remaining in the first quarter. Lawrenceville scored two straight goals to go ahead, 2-1, then junior defender Timmy Hall went top shelf with his shot from about 10 yards out, evening the score at 2-2 with 8:40 left in the opening period.

Hanford sent a laser past Lawrenceville’s goalie at the 7:34 mark of the first quarter, putting ‘Wick on top, 3-2. That lead was short lived however, as the visitors tallied four straight times, taking advantage of a man-up situation, to seize a 6-3 advantage. Known for staging comebacks, the Bruins did just that, ending the first quarter in impressive fashion.

Senior University of Virginia-bound defender Ryan Baxter snapped a shot home from about 12 yards out with 3:24 left in the first quarter, then Garcia tallied with 1:57 left in the opening quarter, bringing the Bruins to within 6-5.

Sprinting toward the goal, Hanford scored with 55.88 seconds still left in the first quarter, knotting the score at 6-6. One of the highlights of the game came when senior goalie William Connell threw the all the way down the field and scored, putting the home team on top, 7-6, with 39.7 seconds to go in a wild first quarter.

Maraglino, Lucas and sophomore midfielder Sawyer Bligh had one goal apiece in the second quarter, which ended with the Bruins trailing 11-10.

Following a high-scoring first quarter and offensive-minded opening half, both squads settled down defensively in the second half. Sophomore midfielder Parker Baras and Hanford each tallied during the third quarter for Brunswick, which was behind, 14-12, going into the final quarter.

“It was a great team effort, our defense held it down at the end,” Tuttle noted. “It was a crazy score in the first, 7-7 at the end of the first. This week we’ve been emphasizing working as a team, offensively and defensively.”

Connell came up with several significant saves in the fourth quarter and the two overtime periods for Brunswick, which locked down defensively, especially in the second half.

Now, the Bruins will look to win their first National Preps championship since the 2022 season. The Bruins lost in the National Preps final in 2023 and 2024 and were defeated in the semifinals in 2025.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” Brunswick junior midfielder Matt Colella said of advancing to the title game. “Obviously, last year, we didn’t get a shot at it. Since that day last year, we’ve been working our tails off in the offseason. Our mind was all on this game throughout the year.”

Brunswick’s 10 victories by one goal have come against Malvern Prep, Episcopal Academy, Taft School, Berkshire, Hill, Staples High School, Avon Old Farms, Salisbury School and Lawrenceville (twice).

The Bruins have only lost one game since falling to Loomis Chaffee School on April 4th, an 8-6 defeat against Seton Hall Prep on May 12.

“I’m so proud of our guys, facing adversity this week at Seton Hall, we took a tough loss,” Colella noted. “But we bounced back in practice, fought around, each day competing. That’s a reflection of our grit.”

“We don’t stop fighting, we play to the last whistle,” Colella continued. “We just played six quarters of lacrosse against the top team in the country.”

Said Garcia: “We had a tough loss to Seton Hall Prep and I think that just lit a fire in us. All of my teammates just locked in and played a great game overall. We were moving the ball amazingly.”

Today’s National Preps final is a rematch of the Brunswick-Deerfield game held on March 28th, which was won by Deerfield, 9-8.

“We’re feeling really confident,” Garcia noted. “We want to get revenge. Those guys beat us early in the season, so we’re looking for revenge for that.”

“We lost to Deerfield in a big league game, we remember how that felt,” Colella added. “We’re hungry and we want that trophy back, so we’re excited.”

Pictures by Antonio Monteiro/06878 Photography

Photos by Antonio Monteiro

For even more photos from Brunswick’s game against Lawrenceville in the Prep Nationals semifinals, please visit: https://www.06878photography.com/boys-lacrosse-2026-national-prep-tournament-semi-final-brunswick-vs-lawrenceville-on-15th-may-2026