Crusaders start ‘on all cylinders' to beat Owls
Pollard scores five, Gordon two for St. Paul's; Park has four for Westminster
One of the primary things the St. Paul's boys lacrosse team wanted to work on in Thursday's game against visiting Westminster was getting off to a faster start.
The No. 4 Crusaders did just that.
After the No. 8 Owls scored the game's first goal, St. Paul's blitzed them with the next 10 through the opening minute of the second quarter. It set the needed tone as the Crusaders came away with a 16-11 win.
Senior attackmen Joe Pollard (five goals, one assist) and Mitch Gordon (two goals, three assists) were the offensive catalysts as the Crusaders improved to 4-2 less than two weeks before their Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A?Conference schedule is set to begin. Westminster, which showed resolve after the poor first quarter, falls to 1-1.
“Taking charge early is important in any game we play. It's something that we struggled with earlier in the season, but we've worked hard to get better at it. Coming out hot and on all cylinders really helped us in this game and will help us in the future,” Pollard said.
After Westminster junior Noah Park (four goals) opened the scoring on the Owls' first possession, the Crusaders responded with a goal-scoring frenzy that started with dominant work from midfielders Bob Barroll and Brendan Tscherne at the faceoff X.
The Crusaders won the first six draws and, after surrendering the opening goal, scored on their next five possessions. By the opening minute of the second quarter, Pollard had four goals, Gordon had two and an assist, and the Crusaders were in control with a 10-1 lead.
Credit the Owls with not hanging their heads. They pulled within 11-4 at the half, inched closer at 13-7 after three quarters and opened the fourth quarter with goals from Chase Buckwalter and Blake Ruby to cut the lead to 13-9 before the Crusaders scored three straight to prevent any late suspense.
For Westminster, senior attackman Rett Jamison finished with two goals and three assists to go with Park's strong performance.
Coach Steve DeFeo found plenty of benefits in playing a quality opponent such as St. Paul's.
“I don't think we lacked effort at all today and I was really proud of that. There was no quit in us,” he said. “It's outstanding that St. Paul's was willing to schedule us this year. … It gives us the opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the country. They have great quality players to go against, so it's very good for our guys to go up against that and have a true test.”
St. Paul's coach Rick Brocato appreciated the push the Owls presented. As the Crusaders prepare for the demanding MIAA A schedule, they had a chance to further iron out kinks and got an opportunity to use a lot of players.
“We're looking to work on the fundamental things that we do. That's what we talked about a lot in our huddles, at halftime and we still have work to do,” he said. “We're a work in progress and that's how it should be this time of the year. These are good games to play to get ready for our league — that's a good team.”
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