VIRGINIA BEACH — For Nansemond-Suffolk’s boys lacrosse team, Tuesday afternoon’s Tidewater Conference Tournament semifinal doubled as a chance to avenge an ugly 10-3 loss to rival Cape Henry during the regular season.

The No. 3 Saints (11-6) challenged the No. 2 Dolphins down to the final seconds but came up a goal short as Cape Henry advanced to the TCIS championship with a 6-5 win.

With both sides stepping up the intensity as the match played on, penalties and man-up chances were more common than playing six versus six for some stretches of the match. The last 0:44 of the fourth period came down to each side being a man down and the Saints attacking for the tying goal.

NSA scored with 1:59 left as Sam Edwards caught a pass from Tucker Hotte and shot from the top of the Dolphin box. The hard shot was deflected and bounced as a change-up to the Dolphin keeper into the cage for the goal.

Cape Henry won the ensuing faceoff and ran off more than a minute before the Saint defenders, trying to double-team wherever the ball went, caused a turnover but were called for a penalty.

The man-up advantage for Cape Henry lasted 12 seconds before a Dolphin penalty equaled the numbers and gave NSA possession inside the Dolphin half of the field.

Edwards took two shots, neither of which forced a save, from the same area he had just scored but those chances were the closest the Saints got to keeping their season alive.

“It was what I expected because that’s the type of kids they are,” said NSA head coach Tom Hostutler about his team’s intensity.

Cape Henry stormed to a 3-0 lead in the opening period. The Saints got on the board with a man-up goal, Sam Rapoport getting a pass from Hotte, from behind the Dolphin goal to the high slot, and Rapoport firing a shot for the goal.

The Saints built more momentum with long possessions but struck quickly for the next two goals.

End-to-end passing, from goalie C.J. White to Edwards to Bobby Wentz to Rapoport, with Wentz finding Rapoport right at the goal for a quick catch and shot, made it 3-2 Dolphins with 7:02 left in the first half.

Four minutes later, with most of that period being Saint possession, Jeff Ruland restarted play behind the CH goal and passed to Hotte on the right wing. From a narrow angle, Hotte drove one-on-one to in front of the Dolphin goal and scored.

The Saints had a man-up chance late in the second period and Ruland had a shot from short range saved in the last couple seconds of the half.

Cape Henry began winning the possession battle in the third period, with the aid of three flags in short succession against the Saints. NSA fended off three man-down situations, but not a fourth as the Dolphins regained the lead with 4:23 left.

Cape Henry won the ensuing draw cleanly and caught NSA’s defense out of position to score again six seconds later for a 5-3 lead.

Harris Howell scored off an assist from Jack Russell with 3:10 to go in the third. The Dolphins got a two-goal lead back with 0:39 left in the period.

The Dolphins patiently kept the ball in the NSA end of the field for most of the first six minutes of the fourth period and a Dolphin man-up chance oddly turned into one of NSA’s best scoring chances of the second half with White clearing the ball after a save and the resulting counterattack drawing a Dolphin penalty.

With another Dolphin penalty, the Saints effectively had a 2:00-long man-up chance that went for naught, leaving a 6-4 score until Edwards’ goal and the last-minute attacking.

“I’m proud of them. It’s what I always expect from my players but it still means a lot to see the guys believe in my system and believe in what I’m asking them to do,” said Hostutler.

At least five Saint seniors are going on to play in college. White and Rapoport are going to Hampden-Sydney. Hotte has signed a scholarship to play at Savannah College of Art and Design. Wentz and Edwards are going to Virginia Wesleyan.