ISL Quarters Film Review: St. Sebastian's 9, Governor's Academy 8

The ISL quarterfinals delivered exactly the kind of drama expected from one of the nation's premier leagues.   In Needham, No. 2 seed St. Sebastian's dug itself into an early 3-0 hole against a Governor's Academy team that endured its share of struggles this season but never stopped competing. The Arrows responded quickly, ripping off seven of the game's next nine goals before the Red Dogs made things tense again late.   Goaltending stole the spotlight throughout the night. Governor's netminder [player_tooltip player_id='175160' first='Owen' last='Gaebel'] turned aside a barrage of point-blank chances to keep his team alive, while St. Sebastian's Patrick Cardone came through with several clutch stops in the closing minutes — including a save in the final minute that effectively sealed the win.   Now led by longtime BU assistant Mike Silipo in his first season as head coach, St. Sebastian's advances to face Milton Academy in Saturday's semifinal.   Here are five standouts from Wednesday's thrilling quarterfinal matchup:    A talented lefty who finished with a hat trick, Haggerty picked an opportune time to have what was likely his best game of the season. With Sebs down 3-0 early, he registered the Arrows' first goal of the game on a high to low bouncer off a jumper, a byproduct of [player_tooltip player_id='177343' first='Jake' last='Beck'] drawing a slide on a dodge from behind the cage. Next, he swept to his left and perfectly placed a shot between the far pipe and the goalie, which came in the middle of a 3-0 run during the second quarter. A tone-setter of sorts on Wednesday, Haggerty had another gorgeous shot that kicked off the scoring in the third quarter, dodging hard with his right hand past the hash with minimal angle and pacing it over the goalie's shoulder. Throughout the day, I loved how he dodged with purpose and got things done in a variety of ways. Still uncommitted, Haggerty put out some good midseason and late season film that's worth a look. I can see him being a priority recruit for top Division III programs this summer, and I'm intrigued to see where he winds up.     A great get for Utah, Beck has really impressed me this spring. While I must say candidly that I didn't think that this was necessarily his best game, as he had a handful of turnovers, his assertiveness, vision, and ability to generate offense were striking. In addition, his production and knack for drawing slides proved to be crucial for the Sebs offense on a day that star attackman [player_tooltip player_id='16394' first='Ty' last='Curry'] was blanked. He had a pretty assist to Haggerty with guys draped all over him, and several other assist opportunities that his teammates were unable to finish. He got on the board four minutes into the game after coming off a pick to get topside, then buried a righty jumper. Late in the first half, he set up a [player_tooltip player_id='129783' first='Quincy' last='Quillard'] goal by drawing the attention of the defense, then smartly got it over to the Syracuse recruit. Beck had an unselfish assist to young Stew Curry on a fantastic tic-tac-toe play off the face-off, tossing the promising eighth grader a cross-crease pass to make the goalie move and give Curry an easy dunk.     A testament to how dominant he's been, it feels like Hahm has been on the St. Sebastian's roster a lot longer than four years, and his presence will be sorely missed next year. Winning close to 70 percent of his face-offs this year, Hahm was fantastic once again on Wednesday, helping his squad win all but five face-offs by my unofficial count. Allowing Sebs to play 'make it, take it' lacrosse, he's super disciplined and timed the whistle well, while his counterpart across from him struggled to handle the ball and went early several times. As a result, Hahm went up against longpoles on several occasions and answered the bell each time. He's great at handling the rock in traffic and did so with poise, just as he's done all year. The future Terrier even added a goal of his own during the third quarter, winning it to himself, looking off a teammate, and netting a sidearm bouncer.     Tripp and his brother Cooper, a Dickinson-bound defenseman, were both excellent on Wednesday despite the loss. A smooth, highly athletic midfielder who wins matchups with relative ease, Schuhwerk set up the game's opening goal before erupting for a hat trick. He beat a fellow Ivy League recruit off the dodge and buried a 15-yard bouncer, then added the final two goals of the game. Matched up against [player_tooltip player_id='17168' first='George' last='Kelly'], Schuhwerk exploded past him and buried a jumper off the restart to cut the deficit to 9-7. Midway through the fourth quarter, he swept to his left, got back to the middle, and buried another bouncer with two Top 100 recruits closing in on him. Though the season ended in heartbreak, the Schuhwerk twins had every reason to hold their heads high, given that they emptied the tank and delivered standout performances in the final game of their high school careers.     If not for Gaebel's brilliant showing in goal, this game wouldn't have been even close. Making at least 16 stops (though it was probably more), the Bryant-bound junior kept coming up with big stops to give his team a fighting chance. In addition, he kept his eyes upfield in the clearing game, looking to get the ball up and out. I was most impressed with his knack for making clean stops, especially in the first half, along with his explosive top hand. He's super fluid and athletic, which helped him make some flat-out ridiculous stops in tight. St. Sebastian's only had one goal over the final 18 or so minutes, and Gaebel and his defense were the reason why, as he was absolutely in the Arrows' heads. I had him down for nine saves in the second half alone, and most of them were rather pretty. Bryant's getting a good one.

The ISL quarterfinals delivered exactly the kind of drama expected from one of the nation's premier leagues.