Campbell's Lucas Craig tries to guard Bow's Gavin McCabe during Friday's key Division III clash in Litchfield. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LITCHFIELD – They were oh, so close, and now the Campbell High School boys lacrosse team knows it’s not far away.

From being a Division III title contender, that is.

The Cougars, who trailed 4-0 early on and 7-3 at halftime, were poised to take their Friday Division III battle with unbeaten, top-ranked Bow to overtime, as they had the ball down 9-8 with 21 seconds left and, thanks to penalties, a two-man advantage.

But Bow goalie Brad Ekstrom picked up a loose ball in the crease and the Falcons ran out the clock.

“We just dug ourselves too big a hole,” Campbell coach Josh Knight said. “We’ve dug ourself at before. It’s good to know we can compete with this (Bow) team. We (only) let up two goals in the second half.”

The way the game started, it looked like the Falcons would run away with things. They scored four goals in the first 10 minutes and led 5-2 after the first period, the only thing keeping Campbell (12-2) in the game being two of Andrew Willnus’ five goals on the day.

“It was a little bit of a shocker for us,” Knight said. “We came in way to hyped up and rarin’ to go. … I’ve never questioned this group’s mental toughness. But we were trying too much.”

But in the third quarter, things settled down and Campbell closed to within 7-6 on another Willnus goal with 4:16 left, and only trailed 8-6 going into the final period.

“I’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” Bow coach Devin Calkins said of the Cougars. “They definitely adjusted their crease slides after the first quarter, and we had to change our offense.”

It didn’t help that the player who scored the game’s first two goals, Ben Berube, suffered an upper body injury and had to leave the game with 3:28 to play in the third. Bow (13-0) managed just one goal in the fourth, scored by Berube’s replacement, Nate Davis, with 9:09 left but it ended up being the difference as it put the Falcons up 9-6.

Campbell also got two goals from Cruz Sandquest, and one from Wyatt Tarr. Willnus got two fourth quarter goals, the last coming with 2:33 left to make it 9-8. But that was as close as the Cougars could get, the final two minutes a wild turnover fest for both teams.

Besides Berube’s pair, Bow was also paced by two goals by Ryan McCabe, and one each from Will Bennett, Gavin McCabe, Brodie O’Niel and Canyon Batchelder. Cougars goalie Ryan Gurette had eight saves, while Eckstrom had six, but none bigger than at the end.

“Every guy on our team believes in Brad,” Calkins said. “When it comes down to it, we trust he’s going to make the right play.”

Both teams have firepower, but Willnus was at another level. He’s the only starter back from last year’s team that was cruising toward an expected title before being upended in the semis by Laconia.

“Obviously I’m biased, but I think he’s the best offensive player, at least in Division III,” Knight said. “They knew which way he was going, and he still had, what, four or five goals today?”

Calkins, meanwhile, knows his team escaped.

“For sure,” Calkins said. “This was a dogfight. Nothing but respect for those guys. I think we’ll see them again down the road.”

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