After surrendering the state title they had held for seven straight years in 2010, the Duxbury Dragon lacrosse team regained the top spot in Massachusetts by defeating defending state champion, St. John’s Prep of Danvers, for the crown on Tuesday night at Harvard Stadium.

It was another solid effort by the Dragons, who built a 7-2 first-quarter lead and never trailed the rest of the night in their 16-9 win over the Eagles.

A Sam Sweet goal got Duxbury off to a 1-0 lead at the 9:58 mark, but the Prep got it right back when Jimmy O’Connell tied the game 35 seconds later. Just six seconds after that the Dragons regained the lead when James Burke took the face-off and sprinted into the offensive zone, spotting Kane Haffey, who buried the first of his six goals to make it 2-1.

Goals by Will Siefert and Bryan Barry over the next minute made it 4-1, and visions of the Billerica blowout were fresh in the minds of the Duxbury fans.

While St John’s (10-7) may have been seeded (No. 9) lower than the Dragons (No. 3), they still have big guns like O’Connell, Colin Blackwell, and Matt Scalise, who can keep them in most games. O’Connell made an effort when he made it 4-2 with 7:36 to go, but Chris Williams, Haffey, and Sweet connected for the Dragons to give them a comfortable five-goal cushion after the first 12 minutes.

The faceoff wins that seemed to come so easily in the first quarter suddenly disappeared, as the Eagles took control in the second quarter with two goals by Scalise and a single tally by O’Connell overcoming a goal by Barry to cut the deficit to 8-5 at halftime.

If the St. John’s surge was momentum for the third quarter it never developed, as Barry, Haffey (3), and Seamus Connelly partially closed the lid on the Eagle’s coffin and made it 13-5 with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

A Duxbury penalty gave the Eagles a man-up situation late in the quarter, and they kept their slim hopes alive when O’Connell, Dan Mini, and Blackwell scored in a 40 second span to cut the gap to 13-8. But once again the Dragons would squash any hope that St. John’s would get back in the game when Paul Hellar beat goaltender Blair Friedensohn with 48 seconds left in the quarter.

The Eagles would manage to score on a two-man up situation to start the final quarter, but Duxbury countered with goals by Barry and Haffey to put the game away for good.

“We always want to play the best teams possible and they had a great team this year and they battled us to the end,” said Coach Chris Sweet. “Was it redemption for last year? Who knows, but I’m sure our boys remembered what it was like 365 days ago.”