Falling back on track to the state championship, the boys varsity lacrosse team took a victory this Tuesday, April 25. After competing against Rockford, the final score came out to be 14-4. Even with such a significant gap in the score, this win took effort and determination. 

Before the competition, the boys were to focus on one thing: recuperating. 

“The theme was to bounce back from our last game and keep the same intensity that we had,”  said senior defensive midfielder Raymond Cargill. “We needed to transfer this energy from that game to this one.”

The boys did just that, as the energy was high, and great plays were made. It helped motivate the team to do its best and perform to the best of its abilities. The gentlemen worked in unison and together as a team. 

“Throughout the duration of the game, the team played extremely well together, and I think that was super important,” said junior captain and midfielder Nolan Hartl. 

A big highlight of the game came down to the performance of a few players. 

“Crandall Quinn made some great saves all night. He’s really stepped up these past couple of games.” Coach Andy Shira said, “We were up 7-0 at halftime, and it could’ve been 7-3 or 7-4 if it wasn’t for him. Magnus Salmon also had a great night with 6 goals offensively. They weren’t able to match his speed on his dodges, and their slides were late, so he was able to get his hands free a lot.”

With these amazing players and the plays that ensued, the Rangers racked up digits on the scoreboard.

As Shira said, senior midfielder Magnus Salmon had 6 goals; he led the team in points. Magnus also had an assist, same with another senior midfielder, Jake Koning. Jake had 4 goals of his own. Senior captain and attackman Jonah McConnell followed not far behind with 3 goals and 2 assists. Nolan had 1 goal and 2 assists. With 1 assist, junior midfielder Mickey Mehney added to the statistics. As for the cage—and what Shira said—senior captain and goalie Crandall Quinn had 10 saves, really setting the mood for the team.

The team pulled together quite the game. From Crandall’s saves to Magnus’s goals, the competition was a fantastic performance for the guys. 

“We got better as the game went on,” he said. “The third quarter was tough to get a rhythm going because so many penalties were called, which disrupted the game. I think we needed a little more discipline at that moment, but as the game progressed, we played even better than we played at the start.”

It is essential for the boys to highlight the positives and the right choices they selected; however, there is always something to improve upon. Despite the astounding game the boys produced, there were still many places that the boys could build on. 

“A major trouble area for the boys is ground balls and clearing,” said Shira. “I thought we were sloppy on ground balls most of the night and struggled to get them up on the first try. A lot of times, we were sweeping the ball and kicking it around. We have to get first-time ground balls. I thought we rushed a lot of passes in the clearing game, too, rather than taking our time if we didn’t have a fast break.”

As for their next game, the boys will travel to Lawrence Tech University in Detroit to go head-to-head with the Ohio boys from St. Xavier High. The game will take place this Friday, April 28, and the ball will be live at 6:00 p.m. Safe travels, and best of luck to the boys!