WESTWOOD — The Players Cup has delivered its fair share of lacrosse highlights in past years, and this spring has proven to be no different.

Wesleyan commit Sam Wien registered five goals, sniping the game-winner with 25 seconds left in regulation as Duxbury (6-1) advanced to the Players Cup championship with an epic 9-8 victory over Acton-Boxboro at Xaverian Brothers High School.

“This is a big win for us,” said Wien. “We came out, and we knew they were a good team. We’ve practiced hard. We were excited for this team. We came off a big Xaverian win and a big loss to Marshfield, and since then, we’ve just been practicing as hard as we can. This is a big game for us, and we wanted this.”

The tilt was advertised as a matchup between two of the top public programs on the MIAA boys lacrosse front. It turned out to be a chess match, which lasted the entirety of the game. Sophomore Christian Maranian buried a pair of goals in the opening half, as Acton-Boxboro (5-2) took a 5-4 lead at the break. Yet, Wien and his teammates remained composed.

As the torrential downpours began to lighten up in the third quarter, the Dragons found a groove. Colin Hulett potted a highlight-reel goal to tie things at 6-all just 19 seconds into the frame, before Wien added two more goals at the tail end of the stanza to provide Duxbury a slim 7-6 edge entering the fourth.

After Acton-Boxboro found the equalizer with 2:21 left off a shot from Aiden Mahoney, the Dragons gained possession in the final minutes, looking to close the deal. It was then that Duxbury coach Chris Sweet called a timeout to regroup.

As the remaining seconds began to bleed off the clock, Hulett spotted Wien as he tried to create separation. The two connected, leaving the star a clean shot at the net. He fired a laser into the twine, as Duxbury made it a 9-8 game, a lead they would not relinquish.

“It’s early in the season still,” said Sweet. “But it gives us a gauge on who we are as a team, what we still need to work on, what works for us. But really, tonight was a heck of a high school lacrosse game. As good of one as I’ve been involved with. That was a really good team that we just squeaked by. We did it by being scrappy, making the little plays, and just hanging in there.”

Liam Goodwin added a pair of goals in the win for Duxbury.

Maranian closed his night with a hat trick himself for Acton-Boxboro.

The victory sets up a rematch of last year’s Div. 2 boys lacrosse title game. Duxbury will now clash with Reading in the Players Cup finals.

Can the Dragons earn a bit of payback?

“We hope to do so,” Wien said. “I have a hunch that it’s going to be Reading. Reading at our home turf, and there’s nothing more that we want than that. That would be a great (game) for us.”