MILTON — Throw out all the sports cliches, starting with the one that says defense wins championships. Sometimes, it comes down to grit, determination, and a refuse-to-lose mentality.

Such was the case Saturday at rain-soaked Curry College in the Division 4 state championship between top-seeded Cohasset and No. 2 Lynnfield, the defending champion from 2023.

This one was Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier 1975 Thrilla-in-Manila style, with both teams spending 79 minutes-plus punching and counterpunching each other. Twice the Pioneers held one-goal leads, and twice Cohasset came back to tie.

In the end, Cohasset’s Sam Ellinger, who had subbed in with 20 minutes left in the second half, landed the knockout punch with 30 seconds to go to clinch a 3-2 thriller and spoil Lynnfield’s quest for a second straight title.

“No doubt, it was a heavyweight boxing match. They just wore us down,” said Lynnfield coach Brent Munroe. “There were a lot of 50-50s and we fought for all of them, but their size – all over the field – really made a difference as the game went on. We moved the ball well, especially in the first half when we had a lot of opportunities. It was a wide open game, which I don’t love because it’s so gut-wrenching. It’s nice to be able to hold a lead when you get one, but we knew that was going to be difficult today because it was so wide open.”

“With the weather and the rain, I think both teams thought they needed to just push forward,” said Cohasset coach Jim Willis. “Both teams are fastbreaking teams with two very good, high-scoring strikers. I think a lot of guys on both teams were playing for overtime and Sam scored that goal, so I’m glad we’re not in overtime. He went in for defensive purposes because [Rocco Scenna] was killing us. I told him to just play [Scenna] and forget about the offense.”

This one was action-packed from start to finish. The tale of the tape revealed two remarkably similar teams. Both featured superstar strikers, Lynnfield’s Dillion Reilly and Cohasset’s Nathan Askjaer. Cohasset hadn’t given up more than two goals all season, while Lynnfield had given up more than two just once.

But Lynnfield had Cohasset on the ropes early, with a corner kick 10 seconds in. The Pioneers hit paydirt three minutes later when Reilly found Joel Anthony, who slipped it back to Reilly for the game’s first score. 

Cohasset’s Clan Casey knotted the score, 1-1, in the 10th minute, digging a ball out of the box in a logjam of bodies in front of Lynnfield goalie Kelan Cardinal, who had been boxed out.

Both teams ramped up the offense. In the 30th minute, Askjaer missed a goal by inches when he hooked a shot from the left side that glanced off the far post. On the counter, Reilly was robbed by Cohasset goalie Wylie Gardner. Reilly nearly converted a couple of minutes later, taking a through ball from Matt Reinhold, only to clang it off the far post. With three minutes to go, Askjaer hit a bullet inside the left post, but Cardinal made a diving grab to keep the game tied at 1-1 at halftime.

As they had in the first half, the Pioneers came out on fire in the second, regaining the lead two minutes in with what Munroe described as “a great team goal.”

Scenna won a ball in the middle and played it wide to Anthony, who cut inside and swung it to Reilly. Reilly slipped it back to Anthony, who one-touched it home.

“If you could draw it up, that’s the way you would, pretty much tic, tac, toe,” Munroe said.

Lynnfield continued to press, with Reilly, Reinold, Tyler Maddocks, and Mohammed Ayari having good looks through the next 20 minutes. But once again, Cohasset turned tables.

With less than 20 minutes to go, Cardinal skied to grab a high ball deep in the box packed with bodies. He had the ball in his grasp, only to have it dislodged by a Skipper to the feet of Ty Rudnick, who tapped it in.

“It looked to us like Kelan had his hands on it, but it got knocked out. It was bang-bang, but this was too good a game to talk about the refs,” Munroe said. “They let a lot go in a good way. I have nothing bad to say about them.”

That was all the Skippers needed, launching a relentless attack the rest of the game, culminating with Ellinger’s game-winner. 

“Their guy (Askjaer) brought it down and Charlie (Morgan) did a great job on him, but the problem is to stop that kid, it takes a lot of kids, which leaves the middle short, so there’s not too much you can do,” Munroe said.

Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected]