On a cold and windy night at Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex our varsity team warmed their Bucs fans’ hearts by scoring 9 of the game’s final 13 goals in a victory over a tough Briarwood squad. Earlier, our JV guys also gave great effort but came up a bit short losing in the first game of our Hoover Lacrosse season-opening doubleheader.

Varsity @ Briarwood: WIN (13-11)

The varsity Bucs victory resulted from a furious comeback clinched by a critical 3 goal burst in the final minute of the third quarter. In a game that started slowly for the Bucs on both ends, the boys found themselves down 1-3 with not even four minutes gone in the opening quarter. One offensive bright spot was a great near-side-pipe shot from sophomore attackman Jackson Clark (3g/1a @Jacksonclark3). After trading a few possessions the Bucs then closed the gap to 2-3 on a beautiful fake and shot by junior middie Hunter Jarvis (2g/1a @JarvisHjarvis30). The Lions then then outscored the Bucs 3-1 over the final 4:44 of the opening quarter to lead 3-6. The Buc goal during that stretch coming from junior attackman John Wittig (2g @johnwitty) on a feed from senior midfielder Nick Egorshin (2g/4a @NickEgorshin). Wittig also scored the first goal of the next quarter, this time on a helper from Jarvis, to cut the led to 4-6. Briarwood scored their only goal of the second quarter at the under-5-minute mark, and the Bucs’ junior middie Braden McCombs (3g @BradenMcCombs) answered with 2 goals in the final 90 seconds, the second of those coming off a nice assist from Egorshin.
 

Bucs headed onto the field for the second half only down by one at 6-7. Buc sophomore middie Luke Stephens (1g/1a @LukeStephens4) opened the second-half scoring and gave the game its first tie since 0-0. Lions then took back the lead, but only for a moment. With just over 8 minutes remaining in the third, and just after a Lion penalty release, Clark scored his second goal off an Egorshin feed to knot the game at 8-8. The Bucs would not trail again. Egorshin then scored his first goal off an assist from Luke Stephens that gave the Bucs their first lead in the game. Again the Lions responded, tying the game at 9-9 with just over 5 minutes left in the third. Jarvis then caught the Lion defense napping during substitutions with his second unassisted goal to give the Bucs the lead back for good. Then came the explosion. During the final minute of the third quarter the Bucs showed off some beautiful faceoff, groundball and offensive play. Clark started by securing his hat trick at the 0:56 mark after a feed from Egorshin. McCombs then netted another unassisted goal 20 seconds later. Then Clark returned Egorshin’s earlier favor by helping him score his second goal of the night with only 7 seconds left in the third. Huge rally by the Bucs allowed them to head to the last break up 13-9.
 

The defense was led by: sophomore goalie Noah Bishop (18 saves on 29 SOGs @noahbishop1); senior poles Ziggy Arledge (4gb @zyggy58), Denton Coker (4 gb @Dco818), Cole Crumrine (1gb @colecrum); junior pole Jonathan Pricket (4gb @jonathanpricket); and sophomore pole Brandon Divinner-Underwood (1gb). And all those boys really stepped it up in the fourth quarter. After giving up 6 goals in the opening stanza, the D then held the Lions (led by Maryland commit Wilson Hand) to 1 goal, 2 goals and 2 goals over the next three quarters. Freshman goalie Jack Briskin (@jackiepipes25) even made an appearance in the fourth saving the only shot he faced. Also chipping in on both ends of the field during the night were middies: seniors Brandon Pekarek (1gb @brandon_pekarek) and Jonathon Stephens (2gb @J_stephens16); sophomores Mason Benner (@Mbenner8) and Zach Rodgers (1gb @SouthGoesDown). Final score Hoover Varsity Bucs 13 Briarwood Lions 11.     
 

JV @ Briarwood: LOSS (3-6)
 

Not as much offensive fireworks in the JV game earlier that same night as our young Bucs came up short against the Briarwood JV squad.  A lot of guys were suiting up for their first-ever high school game, and some of those same guys were also playing in their first-ever lacrosse game. Both freshmen goalies, Jack Briskin and Sync Goyer, played very well. Though they were man down a bit more than we’d like, the defense in front of them also played well. Junior pole Celeb Kelley had 4 ground balls, and our other juniors Avery Acton and Tim Czurgel played critical minutes for us. Sophomore Will Pomeroy had a gb and a nice goal during his time playing short stick. Freshman Drew Crumrine had 2gbs and a nugget, while our other freshman pole Matt Curl faced off some and led the team with 7 ground balls. Middies played well on both ends including: senior Tanner Schatz; sophomore Braxton Collins-McKinney; and freshmen Bennett Clarke, Gavin Close, Luke Gillis, Michael Nicholson, Monterrio Sharpe and Austin Suttle. Attack did a nice job keeping the offense moving: senior Carson Bee; sophomores Austin Kamm and Ben Selby; and freshman Seth Ward. Scoring on the night: Selby with 2g; and one by defensemen Pomeroy when playing short stick middie. A good sign that the team is willing to share the ball; each goal was assisted: with Bee, Ward and Collins-McKinney each being credited with a feed.  Looking forward to getting back all our sick/injured players: Ulises Aldaco, Carson Clifford, Tyler Collins and Jack Stamba.

Great job boys! Lots to be proud of and build on.