Cape Henry scored six straight goals in the final 10:32 of play to advance to the championship game of the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools boys lacrosse tournament at Nansemond-Suffolk’s expense Wednesday at NSA.

The Saints (9-4) are ranked No. 2 in the state in VIS (Virginia Independent Schools) Div. II. The top eight schools make the state tournament, so while the Saints were ousted from the conference tournament, they are still safely in the VIS Tournament.

Having more to play for was the only solace for the Saints and head coach Tim Hostutler after Cape Henry’s big comeback.

“That’s the challenge for the coaches and more importantly it’s the challenge for the players. Winning the state championship’s been the goal the whole year and that’s still in front of them. Practice should be interesting tomorrow,” Hostutler said.

Sam Rapoport led the Saints with six goals and two assists. The junior midfielder’s scoring streak in the third quarter seemingly put the Saints in control.

Cape Henry grabbed a chunk of momentum with the last two goals of the first half, pulling to within a 5-4 deficit at the break.

Rapoport scored three times in a span of 3:31 and assisted Zack Crytzer for a goal with 5:47 left in the third period to push NSA’s lead to 9-4.

Rapoport scored all three goals from the slot, only a few yards or less from goal. Good, quick ball movement set Rapoport up each time with Jeff Ruland assisting on two of Rapoport’s goals.

A man-up goal by Rapoport 0:35 into the fourth quarter give NSA a 10-5 lead. From there, the Saints hardly saw the ball the rest of the match.

Cape Henry scored twice in 0:09, as an NSA foul on the faceoff following the first goal allowed the Dolphins a free run into NSA’s box and the Saints didn’t mark quick enough.

NSA stopped a man-up chance for the Dolphins as the clock moved under six minutes. Seconds later, a Dolphin pass from behind the NSA goal toward the slot hit NSA goalie C.J. White and crossed the goal line.

The goal made it 10-8 and a penalty on White meant NSA went a man down and back-up goalie Rudge Jones had to enter the action.

The Saints held Cape Henry during the penalty, but with Jones still in goal, Cape Henry scored with 3:58 left.

The Dolphins completed the comeback, with big emotional outbursts from the Dolphins on each goal, on a man-up goal with 3:32 left and the go-ahead goal with 2:19 left.

Cape Henry outshot NSA 13-2 in the fourth quarter and won five of six faceoffs, not including twice when the Dolphins got possession after goals because of NSA penalties.

White finished with 14 saves. Other scorers for the Saints were Will Crenshaw, Tucker Hotte and Harris Howell with one goal each. Ruland finished with four assists.

“Cape Henry deserves a lot of credit because they didn’t give up,” Hostutler said.

“At the same time, we committed dumb penalties and it’s hard to keep control of a game when you’re in the penalty box the whole fourth quarter,” Hostutler said.

The Saints will learn the state tournament bracket during the weekend. The top four schools host quarterfinal matches Tuesday.