Centennial Wins Southern Nevada Lacrosse Association Title

By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

Senior attackman Brandon Krowicki scored the game-winning goal with 21 seconds remaining in regulation to give Centennial a 14-13 upset victory over No. 8 Palo Verde in the Southern Nevada Lacrosse Association Division I championship game Friday night in Las Vegas.

Krowicki scored in transition off a feed from junior middie Harrison Krueger moments after sophomore goalie Mitch Dunbar had made a save to keep the game tied. Centennial (14-4), the tournament’s No. 3 seed, then won the ensuing face-off and ran out the clock to claim its first league title since 2006.

“It might have been unexpected by other people, but it was expected by us from day one,” Centennial head coach Tank Thomas said. “I knew this was a special group of kids. Never did I think we were an underdog going into this game. Obviously, this ranks up as one of the biggest wins in the history of the program.”

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On an unusually windy night, Krowicki scored a game-high four goals, sophomore attackman Blake Krowicki added four points on three goals and one assist, and junior middie Joey Mecham had four points on a goal and three assists for Centennial, which beat top-seeded Palo Verde (20-2) for the second time this season.

Senior middie Sean Ferreiro scored three goals, junior attackman Cody Milligan had three points on two goals and an assist, Krueger dished a pair of assists and eighth-grade middie Justin Anderson scored once to round out the Bulldogs’ offense.

In the cage, Dunbar saved nine shots for Centennial, which blew a three-goal lead in the fourth quarter before rallying to score twice in the final 64 seconds.

“It all comes down to heart,” Thomas said. “We had some mental errors, threw the ball away, but I never believed we wouldn’t win this game. I could see it in the guys’ eyes that they wanted to win the game.”

In defeat, junior attackman Jimmy Bivans and junior middie Jordan Grant each finished with three goals and an assist, senior attackman James White had two goals and an assist and senior attackman Andrew Turner scored a goal and dished two assists for the Panthers, who lost in the league championship game for the second straight year.

Senior middies JoJo Milosevic and Malik Matthews each scored twice.

Defensively, senior goalie Connor DeVane saved 14 shots, and senior defenseman Johnny Nitti picked up 13 ground balls.

Centennial led 12-9 at the end of the third quarter, but Palo Verde stormed back. The Panthers scored four straight goals to start the fourth quarter to take the lead. Grant’s goal with 8:11 to play in regulation tied it, 12-12, and Matthews scored to put Palo Verde ahead, 13-12, with 3:17 remaining.

But Palo Verde couldn’t hold on to the lead.

Blake Krowicki scored the equalizer to make it, 13-13, with 1:04 remaining, setting the stage for a thrilling final minute.

Palo Verde had a chance to take the lead back when Nitti picked up a ground ball, ran uncontested to the cage and got off a shot. However, Dunbar made the save with 29 seconds remaining and started a counter-attack that ended eight seconds later when Brandon Krowicki threw home his game-high fourth goal.

The Panthers never got the ball back.

“Both teams played hard,” Palo Verde head coach Gary Campo said. “It was top-rate lacrosse, and it came down to two shots in the last 29 seconds. Ours was saved and theirs went in. Congratulations to them, and I’m very proud of my guys.”