In the Nick of time
Nick Rubino saved the day for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Thursday.
The 18-year-old, Grade 12 student scored as time expired to give the Irish a 7-7 tie versus the Saint Michael Mustangs in Niagara Catholic Athletic Association boys field lacrosse action at Kiwanis Field.
Trailing 7-6 and with just three seconds remaining, the Irish entrusted the ball to Rubino, who quickly and calmly fired home the game-tying goal.
“The original thought was the pass it off but I looked over and both my guys on the wing were covered, so I just let it go,” Rubino said. “It felt great. It was a relief off a few shoulders not to lose this game.”
Rubino, who plays junior B hockey for the Thorold Blackhawks, is often front and centre of the Irish offence.
“I play a lot of up top stuff, running a lot of plays and settling stuff down and the odd time setting up plays and looking for shots,” he said.
Notre Dame coach Mike Hominuck loves what Rubino brings to the field.
“He brings leadership, first and foremost,” Homunick said. “He takes the initiative, takes the bull by the horns, and obviously that little bit of offensive power that we needed.”
Homunick wanted the game in Rubino’s hands as the clock wound down.
“He’s earned that right to be there. He’s been here since Grade 9,” Hominuck said. “He came up big for us.”
The Mustangs, who were coming off a 9-4 loss to the Denis Morris Reds just prior to their matchup with the Irish, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter.
“We probably came into the game thinking half-effort because it was Saint Mike’s, but then we realized we had to start playing. It the second half we started to put it on,” Rubino said.
Homunick wasn’t impressed with his team’s effort.
“Absolutely up and down. We were very inconsistent. Mentally, we were not in the game. Our big guys, our top players, didn’t play the way they should have played.
“We were dropping balls, missing passes, taking dumb shots and then on defence we didn’t play a very good game.
“We let them in. If you let a team hang around, they can come back and bite you.”
Saint Mike’s coach Rob MacIntosh appreciated his club’s effort in back-to-back games with a short bench.
“It’s tough. It’s a cardio sport and we don’t have numbers,” said MacIntosh, who co-coaches with Rob Wilson. “All the other teams in the league have almost double our numbers.
“We could have won. We have a lot of potential and we are legitimately getting better every week.”
The Mustangs are now 0-3-1 while the Irish sport a 1-1-2 record.
The Irish also defeated the St. Francis Phoenix 7-2 Thursday.
Doan and Mac Brook had two goals each while Dekoe, Rubino and Quinn Sarginson added singles.
Gavin Howard and Conner Thomson replied for St. Francis.
STATS PACK
Irish 7 Mustangs 7
Mick and Angelo’s/Johnny Rocco’s Player of the Game: Notre Dame’s Nick Rubin with the game-tying marker with three seconds to play.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Rubino; Dylan Dekoe 2; Harrison Doan 2; Brodie Morabito; Ryan Andrews.
Saint Michael Mustangs: Nolan Fehr 2; Chris Wilson 2; Cam Lowe 2; Christian Blaylock.
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