Moment: Close Finish Goes Cranes' Way

May 21, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

The Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood boys lacrosse team finished 17-6 in 2013, with five of those losses by one goal apiece.

But the Cranes’ one-goal win on the last day of the season surely made those defeats almost immediately forgettable.

Matt Giampetroni scored with 20.2 seconds to play in the Division 2 Final that June 8, pushing Cranbrook past reigning champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 10-9.

The goal was Giampetroni’s fourth of the game and came after Central had scored three straight to tie things up at 9-9 with 2:10 remaining.

Cranbrook had lost to Central 15-5 in the regular-season finale.

“We’ve played a lot of one-goal games this year, so we were used to playing in these games,” Giampetroni said. “I think we learned a lot from those tough losses we had earlier in the year. We were confident.”

Giampetroni, a junior that season, eventually went on to continue his career at Duke.

Check out coverage of the Final from Second Half and watch the game winner below from the MHSAA Network.

Moment: 1st Lead Only Lead EGR Needs

May 18, 2020

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

East Grand Rapids never led during regulation of the 2009 Division 2 Boys Lacrosse Final, trailing Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at most by six goals during the second period.

But with the end of overtime staring the Pioneers down, Josh Drummond gave his team the only advantage that mattered.

Drummond scored an unassisted goal with 1:36 to play in the extra period, giving EGR its first and only lead and a 13-12 win that clinched the program’s third-straight Division 2 championship.

Drummond also had scored twice during the fourth period as East Grand Rapids mounted its comeback and  outscored St. Mary’s 5-2 to deadlock the score and send the game to overtime.

Drummond went on to play at Grand Canyon University. Jake Coretti, who netted the tying goal with 3:43 to go in regulation, was a sophomore that season and went on to play at Rutgers.

Watch Drummond’s game winner below from the MHSAA Network.