The game was extremely close and the lead changed couple of times. We knew their game plan going in, and they knew ours. Both teams kept the penalties to a minimum - four for us, five for Prep - and alternated quarters acquiring them; ours were all in the evens and theirs in the odds. Our biggest issue was confusion on some of the more complex offensive schemes. Hopefully the boys will be a bit more attentive at practice for the rest of the season...*
Final score: Valley 7, Prep 10
With the loss, we are the number two seed. Barring a major upset by Westside (5-7), we will be facing Burke (6-7). The Bulldogs have proven to be very formidable, despite our wins (12-8, 14-10). In lacrosse, four goals are not necessarily indicative of commanding wins. In addition, Burke came within a goal of Millard West (13-14) and within a pair in their second meeting with Prep (5-7).
Prep faces the winner of the play-in between River City (1-12) and (most likely) Westside. The Warriors have won all three of their games since back-to- back losses to us, although two of those games were against the Black Knights and Millard South (0-13). They split their games with Burke - including last week's win. Like Burke, Westside is not a team to be taken likely.
The winners of Saturday's games will advance to the finals tournament. The semi-finals will be held on Friday night (May 21) with the consolation and championship to be held on Saturday (May 22) in Omaha. Finals tournament seeding will be determined following this weekend's games.
***
The JV team played its final game of the season Saturday. Last time we played prep, we got blown out 12-1. The difference in our teams' depth was a major factor in that game and we knew heading into this one we would have the same issue. Following the varsity loss, the odds were against us.
While Prep could run three full lines, we had four guys on the bench. Our only defensive sub was also our JV LSM and an eighth grader (W Tornberg) to boot. An eighth grader also sat in net and the field was stocked with freshmen. We knew we were in for a heavy battle.
Just like the varsity game, the JV game was a tight battle. The score flipped back-and-forth while our guys gave it their all. Cramping issues took out one of our attackmen at half time. JV captain and middie Goertz left in the third due to a potentially dislocated thumb. We were left with only two middies on the bench and a tied score. After calling a time out with just under two minutes to go, the boys were able to get a breather to make a push for the game winner. Regulation ended with the score tied.
Although we told everybody to hang tight, one of the starting middies did not hear that we had a five minute sudden death overtime and took off his gear. This caused a last minute personnel adjustment and a change in the offensive scheme. In the end it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After Arends won the face off off, the guys kept the ball in the offensive zone. Daniels backed up every shot taken by Symons and McDougal and continually fed it back up top. Delsol quickly and confidently grabbed every deflected ground ball and sent it promptly back to McDougal to reset. In the end, our youngest offensive player snagged a wobbly pass from McDougal and hit a powerful that went far side bottom corner.
Final Score: Valley 7, Prep 6 OT
The JV finished 2-5. All but two of those games were decided by one goal either way. We were significantly outnumbered in every game. Their overall performance was admirable and shows great promise for the future of our program.
*Forgive the lack of major details, but my time is very limited this morning. Also, I do not want to give too much up considering we will most likely be playing Prep again in two weeks.
