Lincoln Rampage Fall Classic Results
The
Valley Tigers Lacrosse Club
went headed to Lincoln yesterday for the Rampage Fall Classic.
Rescheduled from October 10 due to snow, this was Valley second trip to
Lincoln for fall ball.
On October 10, we had 20 guys coming with us.
Yesterday only 13 could make it. More than half of yesterday's team
were underclassmen. Only one team captain, and three seniors total made
the trip. We also lacked our starting varsity goalie.
Luckily the
guys that did go stepped their games up. Back up goalie Hunter Couch,
in particular, had a huge day. Facing 45 shots on the day, he only let
in 16. Most of the shots taken and scored were in the final game when
the team as a whole was simply exhausted. Couch stood firm and still
managed a 63% save percentage in that game. Bravo to Sugar Rush.
Many new players made their Valley debut yesterday. Let me be the first to say that the spring season looks bright.
Now for a quick recap:
Game 1 saw us against the Rampage. Lincoln narrowly lost to defending champion, Millard West, 6-4 in their first game.
Apparently the home team was on their game yesterday. After they got ahead early, we came back to beat Lincoln 4-2.
Our second game was against a combined team featuring
Westside
and our heated rivals, River City. After allowing an early goal, Valley
turned up the heat to win 11-4. This makes our fourth victory over the
Black Knights in as many meetings.
Following a lunch break, we faced
perennial powerhouse Creighton Prep in our third game. Prep's bench was
twice as deep as ours and featured significant experience. After an
early ejection of both a
Bluejay and our team captain, Cam
Bostwick,
we dug in. Having gone down 3-0 by halftime, the Tigers dug in our
heals and fought back to narrowly lose 3-2. Even without their most
established leader on their field, our boys came together and
persevered. This game exemplified a "
quality loss."
Unfortunately
our final game saw a Valley team with no energy left. The early morning
drive combined with the lack of depth and dry weather depleted what
little oomph remained. Despite high levels of fatigue, everyone came
back and fought as hard as they could. All of our time-outs were used
just
to allow the guys to catch their breath. After fighting against the
returning champs and their deep bench, we ended up with a 7-4 loss.
Never in my life had I witnessed a team give their all and not give up
when everything was against their favor. This game made me proud to be
associated with the team.
I also want to share my thanks to the
coach of Millard West. When one of our underclassmen got hurt late in
the game, the coach showed a lot of class by calling a time-out. This
is what lacrosse is all about. Thanks, coach.