On Friday night, the lacrosse team traveled to Mountain View to take on the Saint Francis Lancers in a highly anticipated matchup, which ended in a 11-5 victory for the Bears.
With the first whistle, the Lancers jumped on the Bears, showing a relentless speed and precision that allowed them to surmount a 3-0 lead. The Lancers continued to excel both offensively and defensively, but the Bears managed to maintain their deficit at three.
Senior Jack Kryger said, “We came out flat and without the energy we needed in a big game like that. Luckily, it didn’t end up costing us in the end.”
Midway through the first quarter, M-A began to settle in as senior Peter Koren got the Bears on the board with a shot that showed pinpoint accuracy, narrowly evading the Lancer goalie’s stick. M-A rallied behind Koren’s goal, with senior Calvin Annison adding a score and junior goalie Olivier Yuk recording numerous saves to keep the Lancers at bay.
Near the beginning of the second quarter, the Lancers committed a costly check in the back penalty, leading to a man advantage for M-A. The Bears capitalized on the penalty as freshman Ford Long scored the equalizer to tie the game at three. Soon after, senior Mikey Sanford scored, putting M-A up by one. The Lancers cranked up their physicality to slow the prolific Bears offense. Despite this, junior Colin Kryger bounced in a goal while being fouled by a Lancer defender, bringing the score to 5-3 going into halftime.
The Lancers came out hot with a quick goal to start the third quarter. However, M-A responded immediately with additional goals from Colin Kryger and Koren. Despite a four-goal deficit, the Lancers continued to show fiery spirit, adding a score with a minute left in the third.
M-A dominated the fourth quarter as seniors Oskar Flodh and Baron Kadivar helped tighten the Bears defense, leading to zero additional goals in the fourth. M-A only continued to add to its lead with more goals from senior Ben Timm and sophomore Carey Wolf, ending the game at 11-5.
Timm said, “The win meant everything for us. It was one of the biggest games of the season, and we did everything we needed to do.”
