Boys? Lacrosse had a near lose and one crushing victory last week.
On March 29, Lake Orion squared off against Adams High School, narrowly losing the game 7-6. The first quarter saw the green and white up 3-1, but the second proved the beginning of their downfall, ending at the half tied at 3-3. The team simply could not find the net in the third, which ended 5-3 in favor of Adams, and while the Dragons put forth a strong effort in the final quarter, it wasn’t enough to topple their opponents.
Junior Brad Bogus netted two goals and two assists while Junior Robert Aiello controlled nine ground balls. Senior Goaltender Nick Kensler truly shone in the game, stopping 11 saves – Head Coach Brad Thomas said anything above eight saves indicates the goalie is doing exceptionally well.
The Dragons played the next day against Saginaw Heritage, beating the team, 12-4.
Senior Captain Nick DiPonio garnered four goals, one assist, and rounded off five ground balls while Brad Bogus continued his proficient playing with one goal and three assists. Junior Captain Jake Berkal scored one goal, one assist, and controlled eight ground balls, while senior captain Jimmy Davis scored three goals. Rounding off the top performers was again Robert Aiello who controlled a whopping ten ground balls.
Yet despite the success, Thomas said the team began hot and ended hot, he ‘didn’t know what was going on in between.?
‘We did really well on face-offs, which means more possession and more chances, and while we pumped in out season high of 12 goals, we really need to work on locking up teams in transition,? said Thomas, referring the periods where their opponents go from defensive to offensive. ‘We’ve been good at clearing the ball from our zone, and offensively we’ve really started to come together, but other teams have a better transition game.
Another area we need to work on is our opportunities and extra man advantage – we’ve had lots of opportunities, by themselves and during our extra man advantages, but we just don’t finish.?
Thomas added his goal for the team is to have them scoring 75 percent of every opportunity.
The Boys? Lacrosse team will play next on April 12 against West Broomfield, and again on April 13 against University Liggett School.