Another victory is added to the boys varsity lacrosse team’s record after securing a win in its first playoff game

Nolan+Hartl+rips+a+shot.

Nolan Hartl rips a shot.

At 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, the boys varsity lacrosse team played its sister school Forest Hills Northern to kick off the playoffs in the regional semi-finals. The competition started slow, and the score was extremely tight. But after the first quarter, the boys plowed through; they gained a significant lead and secured the victory. The final score of the game was 18-7. 

To prepare, the team learned new ways and tactics to handle the game. Coach Andy Shira told us about his new method.

“It’s playoffs now, so it’s one game at a time, and we break each quarter down into 3 to 4-minute battles,” he said. “We want to win every 4-minute segment. We knew we didn’t play our best against FHN a couple of weeks ago, so we just focused on cleaning up our play from what we did poorly the first time we played.”

Entering the game, the boys were excited and thrilled to play some familiar faces.

“Heading into the game, we were excited to take out a team of people we know from the area, and that kinda motivated us more,” said senior captain and attackman Jonah McConnell. 

With this familiarity that produced the boys’ enthusiasm, the team as a whole worked together to create a jaw-dropping game, but at first, the boys started a bit strained despite the solid energy created before the game. 

The energy had fluctuated since the start. Before halftime, the boys fought for the lead, remaining a one to two-point game. The sideline was worried, and the parents were on their toes, but the boys managed to break free of the close score. 

“I think we started with shallow energy throughout the first quarter and into the second,” added freshman attackman Cameron Segebarth. “But throughout the second quarter, we picked up the energy and pulled away from them. Especially during the second, our energy on and off the field really helped us get our points and pull away.”

The boys did play much better as the game went on; they did manage to pull away. This was helped with attacking, defense, and single positions, like the face-off. Not only that, but the second-string players worked to domineer on the field. Overall, the plays began to fall into place, and the team started to come together.

“Luke Wedder had a good day at the face-off, winning twenty face-offs,” said Shira. “Henry McNamara and Cam Segebarth each got their first varsity goals. We dominated the time of possession. FHN played zone defense which slowed the game down so much. Our offense was patient, though, and had some really good looks.”

As for the numbers on the board, they were something else. Jonah McConnell and senior attackman Magnus Salmon had five goals each, and McConnell had two assists as well. Senior captain and attackman Graham Bennett had three goals and three assists. Another captain, junior Nolan Hartl, dittoed Graham in goals and assists. Cameron had the first 2 goals of his high school lacrosse career; freshman attackman Henry McNamara also had the first goal of his high school career. Senior midfielder Reese Le added another goal to the batch and another assist. Captain Sam Sneider, a senior LSM, had an assist, like junior defensive midfielder Tyler Nass and senior midfielder Jack Manchesky. 

As for looking forward, there is always one specific detail that the boys need to focus on: consistency. The team needs to come ready to play and come wanting to play. 

“We got to work on coming out hot instead of slow,” mentioned Henry. “I think overall, we can work on coming to play all four quarters.” 

Considering Henry’s wise words, the team will prepare for their next competition on Wednesday, May 31, where they will be pinned against another Forest Hills school, Forest Hills Eastern. With Northern in the rearview and Eastern in the road ahead, along with Henry, coach Shira knows what should be focused on. 

“We just played FHE, similar to how we just played FHN,” he said. “FHE didn’t have their best day against us last time, and we know they’ll be hungry and ready to go next week. We have to keep our focus on them and prepare well because you don’t want to have an off day against a hungry team in the playoffs. If we do the little things well, like we didn’t in the first matchup, things will go our way.”

The next game will be the regional semi-finals and will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the Husky Stadium once more. Good luck, gentlemen!