HINGHAM — St. John’s Prep’s lacrosse team has consistently found new ways to win over the years, and did so once Saturday, despite some struggles.

Princeton commit Jake Vana led all scorers with a hat trick, while Drew Bossi and Luke Kelly added two goals apiece as the top-ranked Eagles overcame a sluggish start to register a 10-5 victory over Hingham.

“We talked about how this was an absolute opportunity for us to see a team do the (right) things,” said St. John’s Prep coach John Pynchon. “Coach Todd and their staff prepare their guys. They’ve scouted us, they know what they want to do, they have a game plan. That’s how the playoffs work. Everyone gets the film, everyone sees what to do. They were ready for us, and did a great job. We just made some key plays down the stretch there, and the second half took care of itself.”

For much of the first half, the Harbormen (15-4) baited the Eagles (16-2) into their own game, extending possessions while making timely stops.

Michael Garrity netted a pair of goals in the first two quarters of play, as Hingham seized a 3-1 advantage with 11:18 left in the second. It was unfamiliar territory for the Eagles — trailing with moments to go before the break.

St. John’s Prep’s high-octane attack kicked into full gear from there; Luke Kelly sniped two goals in the quarter alone, the latter off a last-ditch shot from 40 yards out at the horn. Quickly, the Eagles hung up five unanswered goals in just 6:38, leaping ahead 6-3 at intermission.

“We actually practice that a bunch,” laughed Kelly. “Like almost everyday. It’s our bunch look. I just kind of saw that they were scrapping up in front of the net. You’ve just got to put it on, and see if anything good happens.”

After being held dormant in the first half, Vana came to life in the frame for St. John’s Prep with a pair of goals himself, as the Eagles pulled ahead with a comfortable 9-4 lead, which they were able to maintain for the rest of regulation. He would close the game by completing the hat trick with 52.9 seconds remaining to ice things.

Garrity carried Hingham offensively with a hat trick, while Nate Hoffman had 20 saves in the cage for the Harbormen.

The two schools will now wait until the MIAA playoff lacrosse brackets are unveiled this Wednesday.

“We haven’t really had a game where we’ve faced a ton of adversity,” said Vana. ”Especially a team (like Hingham) that plays as slow as they do. They like to make the most of their possessions, like three or four minutes each. I think the coaches were talking about it. We didn’t really get the ball until there were four minutes left in the first period… Doherty started winning face-offs, which was huge for us. We started capitalizing in transition… once we made it 3-3, and transition was rolling, that kind of gave us momentum and confidence to start playing fast and having fun.”