LEOMINSTER — With the state championship hanging in the balance in the 72nd minute of Saturday’s match, Luke Dougherty sent the ball forward to release Cole Boggis on the counter.
Sandwiched between two defenders, Boggis did not let up as the ball met the defender on his right got to the ball first.
“I saw the ball bounce and the defender, he didn’t really know where it was,” Boggis said after the match. “So I hit it with my shoulder past him, and then I was one-on-one with the keeper.”
With the angle against him and no time to take a touch, Boggis fired a snapshot and beat the keeper between his legs for the go-ahead goal.
Boggis’ goal proved to be the winner for the Red Hawks as No. 2 Natick boys soccer held on and defeated No. 1 St. John’s Prep, 3-2, on Saturday at Doyle Field.
Natick (17-5) clinches its first state title in program history, reaching the state final for the first time since 1987.
The Red Hawks were in front for the majority of the match, scoring in the third minute on the counter. After opening up the Eagles’ defense with his run down the right wing, Boggis’ cutback found Owen Ford inside the box, and he fired it past the keeper.
The Eagles pushed to find an equalizer quickly, but the Red Hawks’ defense held firm. Natick nearly made it to halftime with the lead intact, but St. John’s found its breakthrough in the 37th minute from Ryan King, firing in a stunning shot from long range off the slick back heel pass from Finn McCabe.
Natick boys soccer coach Daniel Joseph had a simple reminder for his team at halftime — just “breathe”.
The Red Hawks came out in the second half with renewed aggression. The scoreline did not remain tied for long as Natick reclaimed the lead in the 47th minute from Luke Dougherty, with Boggis once again setting up the goal with a cutback.
But the Eagles were quick off the restart and had Natick immediately under pressure. The Red Hawks’ defense was eventually breached in the 54th minute by Garrison Murphy with a clinical right-footed finish to beat the keeper.
Both sides had their chances over the next 15 minutes to score the go-ahead goal. Dougherty came close in the 59th minute and again in the 60th minute on nearly-identical opportunities, but his finish rolled inches away from goal both times.
But the senior captain did not lose his nerve.
“We did it all year, we did it all playoffs. We went down, we didn’t let it get to us once,” Dougherty said. “The crowd was in on it the whole time, keeping us up. I missed two chances. I looked over to the crowd, and they’re all clapping and cheering my name.
“It’s like ‘Alright, if they believe in me, I’m going to believe in myself, too’.”
The Eagles called a timeout after Dougherty set up Boggis’ goal. Again, Joseph reminded his team to “breathe” and remain focused to close out the victory.
“I need you to clear anything that you can,” Joseph said. “Get it up, let Drew Cochrane or Dougherty or Boggis work with it, get it to the corners.”
“I’m so proud of them, (St. John’s Prep) threw everything… they kept hammering (away), even to that final foul.”
The Red Hawks will graduate 10 seniors this spring, signing off after a historic season that crowns Natick boys soccer for the first time.
“We’ve been talking about it for years, ever since we were kids in the youth program,” Natick’s Jack Stephens said. “We always (thought), ‘One day, we can be here (in the state final), we could win this thing.”
Earlier this morning, the Red Hawks’ girls soccer team won its third state title after defeating Franklin, 4-2, in the Division I state final.
The Red Hawks’ state finalist team of 1987 had reached out to the current team before Saturday’s match, sharing words of encouragement and how the memories of that season still bond them.
“They still talk about it to this day, they still meet up (and) they’re still friends,” Boggis said. “This team, I hope, is forever connected. We have such good energy and such tight chemistry.
“We want to go back-to-back for sure, we know we have the talent… I don’t see why we can’t.”
St. John’s Prep finishes its season with an 18-2-2 record, reaching its first state final since 2022.
“We fell short, I’m not going to say I’m not disappointed,” St. John’s boys soccer coach David Crowell said. “But (I am) really, really proud of the kids.
“They’ll bounce back, a lot of tears, a lot of hugs right now, but in a few days, they’ll be back to being kids and playing soccer.”
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