It was a game for either team to win. But if you’re a betting man, let’s hope your money was on the Dragons.

For the eighth consecutive year the Duxbury boys’ lacrosse team will vie for the Division I State lacrosse title when they take on St. John’s Prep on Wednesday night at Harvard Stadium, at 7:45 p.m., in the final game of the three championship contests.

Duxbury’s appearance is the result of a 9-8 win over Boston College High School on Friday afternoon in Plymouth; a game that was as hard fought as any the Dragons have been involved in this year. 

“That was a classic high school lacrosse game in classic New England spring conditions,” said a happy Coach Chris Sweet. “We were excited to win and I was hoping it didn’t go into overtime. All of our guys battled and worked as hard as any Duxbury team ever has.”

With rain showers falling all afternoon on the Plymouth North field, the track was slick, and the action was intense.

Neither team ever had more than a two-goal lead, as they both matched each other’s scores throughout the game.

Matt Hetherington got the Dragons on the board early, as he beat Eagle netminder Frank Nemia from 10 yards out 45 seconds into the contest, and he did it once again at the 4:19 mark to put Duxbury ahead 2-1.

BC would rally with two goals over a 27-second span and end the first quarter with a 3-2 lead, carrying momentum into the second quarter and grabbing a 4-2 lead on a Max Shipp goal.

Duxbury’s Steve Ripley whipped one past Nemia 17 seconds later to cut the deficit to 4-3. But Dom Fichera wasted little time in getting the Eagles back to a two-goal margin when he made it 5-3 with 8:53 left in the half.

Duxbury Coach Chris Sweet didn’t like what he was seeing from his team and called a timeout to assess the situation. When the Dragons came back on the field momentum swung dramatically, as Jake Harvey, Hakeem Lecky and Andy Puopolo scored to put the Dragons ahead 6-5 with 23 seconds left in the half.

While it appeared the Dragons were headed to the break with a 6-5 lead, the Eagles had different ideas, as they won the draw and raced into the Duxbury end, only to have goaltender Mickey Zaverucha make a spectacular save at the buzzer from less than five yards out.

Holding a halftime lead was impressive, as BC won nine face-offs to the Dragons’ three, but the Eagles couldn’t take advantage of their huge margin.

The Eagles would begin the second half by taking advantage of two man-up situations, scoring on both and taking a 7-6 lead with 6:49 on the clock.

It appeared the Eagles were about to go up by a pair at the 5:07 mark, but Zaverucha once again stymied a Fichera scoring bid from close range to keep the game close.

Notre Dame-bound Quinn Cully showed why he will be playing for the Fighting Irish next season, as he scooped up the ball in the Duxbury end and raced the length of the field, winding his way through three Eagle defenders and beating Nemia to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:06 left in the quarter.

After Duxbury failed to score on a man-up situation, BC pressured the Dragon defense, only to have Zaverucha make two incredible back-to-back saves that kept the game tied entering the final 12 minutes.

Cully took over the game for Duxbury in the fourth quarter, strapping on his leadership cap and putting his team up 8-7 with 9:09 remaining.

The Eagles countered with a Shipp goal to tie the game with 6:01 to go, and it was fasten-your-seatbelt time after that.

BC squandered a man-up situation by losing possession with 5:13 left, enabling the Dragons to set up Cully for what would prove to be the winning goal with 4:08 left in the game.

Duxbury would win the ensuing draw and call a timeout to strategize the final minutes.

They did an excellent job killing the clock, but a crease violation sent the ball back up field with 45 seconds to go.

The Dragon defense stripped BC of the ball, as Steve Ripley scooped it up and raced up field before stepping out of bounds with 11 seconds remaining, but not enough time for a serious shot on net by the Eagles.