WALES — Offensive possession eluded Oak Hill for much of Wednesday’s boys’ lacrosse matchup with Camden Hills, but the Raiders had the ball at the end of regulation with a chance to send the game to overtime.

Two good looks at a game-tying goal went just wide, and the Windjammers hung on for a 7-6 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.

“It came down to the wire,” Camden Hills Coach Harrison Rogers said. “Last 20 seconds, they had possession, their best guy, and our defense came up huge.”

Nate Marcotte finished off a pass from Gabe Bergeron with 18.2 seconds left to cut the deficit to one, and both Riley Worth and Xavier Michaud had shots after the Raiders (9-3) won the final faceoff. Worth missed wide left with six seconds to play, and Michaud’s shot with one second left hit the backside of the net.

“Just not enough shots on goal,” Oak Hill Coach Joey Hinkley said.

Thomas Griebel scored three goals for Camden Hills (8-4), including two in a row in the third quarter to break a 3-3 tie. And the Windjammers relied heavily on their defense.

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“It’s really just positional defense, and just not trying to over commit, and not necessarily take it away but have them pressured with a few poke checks and lifts, and really shutting off the adjacents to make it hard making that next pass,” Rogers said.

Camden Hills took a 2-1 lead on goals from Owen Rokus and Kieran McGrath 31 seconds apart midway through the first quarter.

Matt Nickerson scored four minutes into the second quarter to give the Windjammers a 3-1 halftime lead.

Oak Hill tied the game early in the second half. Marcotte scored 1:49 in, and Bergeron got the equalizer 42 seconds later.

“Just had to work for it, had to run our offense,” Hinkley said. “In the third quarter, we kind of ran our offense a little better than usual, and they finally got a few goals out of it.”

Griebel scored a pair of goals midway through the quarter to restore a two-goal lead for the Windjammers.

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Michaud’s goal with 1:29 remaining in the quarter made it a 5-4 game heading into the fourth.

Rokus scored less than three minutes into the fourth for another two-goal advantage, then Griebel completed his hat trick with 4:11 left.

The Raiders cut into the deficit with a goal from Michaud 34 seconds later.

Camden Hills had a chance to run out the clock but made a mistake by stepping out of the restraining box with 1:34 to play, giving the ball back to the Raiders.

“I probably should have called timeout, but they usually do pretty well in that tight situation,” Hinkley said.

Brandon Glover stopped 10 shots in goal for Oak Hill. Hinkley said he’s “a key factor in every game.”

James Lynch had four saves for Camden Hills.


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