The rivalry between the boys’ lacrosse teams from Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and North Cross School reached a new level in Tuesday’s VISAA Division II state quarterfinal game that required triple overtime before a victor emerged.

During a moment in the third four-minute, sudden death overtime session, something did not go quite right for the Saints’ offense near the Raiders’ goal. But the chaos of the moment created an opportunity for NSA senior attackman Whit Riddick, who was in front of the goal when the ball jetted over to him.

“Whit was at the right place at the right time,” Saints coach T.W. Johnson said.

Riddick scored to give his team a hard-fought 8-7 home victory and a return trip to the state semifinals.

“It was a very exciting game,” Johnson said. “I’m just glad that we came out on top.”

He had said he had a feeling it was going to be a tight game. The Raiders have given him little reason to suspect anything else. On March 28, the Saints faced North Cross at Hampden-Sydney College and won narrowly, 5-3.

Last season, the Raiders stood in NSA’s way in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II state semifinals, and the Saints narrowly prevailed, 12-10.

“They have a really outstanding goalie,” Johnson said, referring to the Raiders’ keeper, Will Perry, noting the junior is “probably, I would say, the best goalie we’ve gone against this year.”

On Tuesday, “we got a good goal early from Whit and then Whit got a second goal off a rebound, but then (Perry) really clamped down,” Johnson said.

Nansemond-Suffolk was firing off some high percentage shots, but they were not going in.

“The goalie was just making great plays on the ball, so you’ve got to give credit where credit is due,” Johnson said.

North Cross was also trying to slow the game down and keep it tight, something it was pretty successful in doing for most of the first half.

But late in the first half, Johnson said the decision was made that the Saints were going to step out and pressure North Cross more, using the heat to their advantage as they would make the Raiders run for the ball.

“And we started to get some transition plays in the third and fourth quarters where it was unsettled and they couldn’t get into their 6-on-6 defense,” Johnson said.

He noted both teams had some good scoring opportunities in the overtime sessions. However, the Raiders were remarkably limited during particularly favorable circumstances — NSA played a man down for a portion of the extra time after a penalty.

“That put a lot of pressure on us, but the defense really did a good job of not letting them get a lot of good shooting opportunities,” Johnson said.

Saints senior goalkeeper Mac Hardee made some good saves in the overtimes, while sophomore defenseman Jack Bivins won some key face-offs to give NSA possession.

Riddick finished the game with a hat trick, while sophomore attackman Tanner Jackson and sophomore midfielder Garrett Leicester each produced two goals and one assist.

Nansemond-Suffolk junior midfielder Noah Serianni had a goal, and senior midfielders Addison Peak, Cole Jackson and junior attackman Noah Dowd had one assist apiece.

The Saints (13-5) play Virginia Episcopal School in the state semifinals on Friday afternoon at the University of Richmond.