Mahoney, Andriole Help St. Xavier Pull Away in Rivalry Battle

As the starting lineups walked out to face each other at midfield before the opening faceoff, the loud speaker at Brother Thomas More Stadium blasted the sound of a bugler giving the call to post, as is customary prior to the Kentucky Derby. And just like those thoroughbreds, the Tigers and Shamrocks were off and running after that opening whistle as the biggest high school rivalry in the Commonwealth returned to the lacrosse field once more.   Trinity defenseman Henry Cobb laid a big hit on St. Xavier faceoff man Luke Bentz as he rocketed the first shot of the game high and wide. But while it was the Shamrocks who set the tone first with that physical opening play, it was the host St. Xavier Tigers who grabbed the momentum early and kept it. [player_tooltip player_id='24365' first='Will' last='Townsend'] beat his man off the dodge on a restart from the back left corner of the end zone, got top side, and put the Tigers on the board first. A garbage goal from David Powers followed less than a minute later as he grabbed the rebound on the doorstep and put it in the back of the cage.   With only 2:12 having ticked off the clock, the Tigers already had a 2-0 lead. And St. Xavier would keep that lead for the entire game as the Tigers went wire-to-wire to take down their arch rival Trinity Shamrocks by a score of 12-9 on a cool March night under the lights.   Trinity tied things up twice on Wednesday night, doing so first in the opening frame and second in the third quarter. It was the latter instance that was of most significance. After seeing the Tigers open the second half with a man-up goal, Trinity's [player_tooltip player_id='20799' first='Logan' last='Bryant'] seemingly took over the game. While Bryant came into the rivalry matchup averaging nearly five goals and six points per game, the Tiger defense was able to keep him at bay for most of the contest with senior pole Finn Culligan leading that effort. Bryant broke things open in the third however, scoring a natural hat trick to tie things up at 7-7 with 7:34 remaining in the frame.   While the Shamrocks would tie things up, the Tigers would never let them take the lead. St. Xavier responded to Bryant's third-quarter effort with two of their own as Brooks Mahoney scored consecutive goals to pull them back up 9-7. St. Xavier would score five straight goals before Trinity got on the board again, which came at the 2:24 mark of the fourth quarter. Mahoney and [player_tooltip player_id='20802' first='Thomas' last='Andriole'] each had two scores during that game-ending run for the Tigers.   The win marks the first over the Shamrocks for the Tigers under second-year head Coach Kevin Doherty. With the win, the Tigers move to 4-2 on the season. They will head into a tough stretch next week as they cross the Mason-Dixon Line for a trip to northern Ohio where they will face three Buckeye State squads in Spire Academy, St. Ignatius, and Western Reserve Academy within a span of four days.   Trinity moves to 4-3 on the season with the loss. The Shamrocks head into a week off for spring break having now suffered two losses in a row. Pete Schroeder's squad will be welcomed back from the break with a pair of regional contests versus Ballard and Eastern.   Expectations are that the Shamrocks and Tigers will meet again with the season on the line in the KHSAA quarterfinals. The Tigers' third region and Shamrocks' fourth region are <a href="https://khsaa.org/state-first-round-pairings-boys-and-girls-lacrosse/">matched up</a> in the first two rounds of the state tournament during this inaugural season of KHSAA lacrosse.   Here is a look at the standouts from Wednesday night's rivalry battle:    The best athlete on the field Wednesday night, Andriole came up big for the Tigers with one of his best performances of the young season. Andriole netted a hat trick and also dished out one assist in the win versus the Shamrocks. A serious threat from up top, all his scores came in somewhat similar fashion as he was able to beat, or bully, the short-stick matchup, get downhill, and get the shot off.     Mahoney has shown a lot of growth through the Tigers' first six games of the season and Wednesday night was no exception. The junior attackman continued to put his off-ball presence and scoring ability on display as he helped lead the St. Xavier offense with a hat trick. That included a pair of big third quarter scores that came consecutively and helped to stop Trinity's momentum.     Culligan proved to be arguably St. Xavier's best defender on the field in Wednesday night's battle. Tasked with guarding Trinity's top offensive weapon in [player_tooltip player_id='20799' first='Logan' last='Bryant'], Culligan impressed as he was able to hold the Fairfield signee at bay for most of the night. Culligan showcased good footwork and knew exactly when to use his body or stick to make things tough for the opppsition.     Both teams saw strong goalie play and both keepers had truly great stretches in the contest. Fortwengler, however, was a step above from the get-go and looked dialed in from the opening whistle to the final horn. A second-year starter, he progressed greatly last spring and has shown a ton of improvement in 2025. He especially shined in the fourth quarter where he made three big saves - each coming low - to keep any effort of a Trinity comeback at bay.     Five different players contributed to create Trinity's nine goals on Wednesday night. Bryant led the pack and ended the night as the game's overall leading scorer with four goals. That included a natural hat trick in the third quarter. In that stretch, Bryant scored the first two goals nearly identically as he was able to get downhill off some pick action up top. His third consecutive and fourth overall score capped a transition sequence as he scored while diving towards the cage with Tiger defender on his back.     The do-it-all LSM was once again a bright spot for the Shamrocks. The Jacksonville signee makes an impact on the back end, in transition, on the faceoff wings, and even in settled 6v6 offense. He showcased himself as a top-tier defender in the state on Wednesday night. Matched up against St. Xavier's leading scorer in [player_tooltip player_id='22692' first='Connor' last='Marks'], Alexander's effort helped to nearly take him out of the game. That effort saw Marks be held to one goal and one assist.

As the starting lineups walked out to face each other at midfield before the opening faceoff, the loud speaker at Brother Thomas More Stadium blasted the sound of a bugler giving the call to post, as is customary prior to the Kentucky Derby. And just like those thoroughbreds, the Tigers and Shamrocks were off and running after that opening whistle as the biggest high school rivalry in the Commonwealth returned to the lacrosse field once more.