On Feb. 24, the Redwood varsity boys’ lacrosse team started off their season with a home game against the De La Salle Spartans. Although the Giants put their best effort out on the field, De La Salle took the win with a close score of 11-9.
According to senior Will Kepler, who plays defense, the team made mistakes in the first two periods of the game that affected the final score. At the end of the first period, the Giants were down by a score of 6-0.
“If we had eliminated our first quarter mistakes, we would have won that game, and if we had played how we played the rest of the game. We shut them out in the fourth quarter, and we let in six in the first four minutes so if we came into the game harder, I think we would have come out on top,” Kepler said.
Junior midfielder Luke Elders, who has been on the varsity lacrosse team since freshman year, knew the game was going to be difficult, but went in with a positive attitude.
“Last year [De La Salle] were the NCS champions so we knew they were going to be pretty good. I went into the game with an open mind because it doesn’t matter who it is at that point, you just have to play as hard as you can,” Elders said.
According to junior midfielder Harri Hetrick, the team knew it was going to be a tough game, especially since Redwood hasn’t beaten the Spartans since 2012. However, Hetrick is aware of what the team can work on as a whole for upcoming games.
“It was a big deal, because it was our first game and we wanted to start off our season in a good way. I think we finished well for the most part, but we still need to finish some of our shots,” Hetrick said.
Agreeing with Hetrick, Elders explained that they were a little disorganized in the first two periods, but after halftime the Giants became more aggressive.
“On offense we were a little disorganized and we were kind of freaking out. One guy would try to shoot and miss, and then we would try to get back to our [positions] and we would be screwed at that point,” Elders said.
Despite the Giants’ first defeat, this year’s team is well rounded and in some ways better than last year’s, according to Hetrick.
“Our chemistry is a lot better this year than last year, we all hang out together. Even one of the coaches was saying that in the last four years there wouldn’t have been a team that would have been able to come back from that 0-6 deficit. Even though we lost, we came back and kept fighting,” Hetrick said.
According to Kepler, although the overall goal is always to secure a victory, the Giants focused on playing their best and not worrying too much about the score, as the team has a whole season ahead of them.
“[De La Salle] is a good team. Yesterday [the team was] talking and we said ‘Let’s go out and have fun it’s our first game. It’s Feb. 24 and we are playing until May 24, and we are just going out to have fun, and if we win it’s a bonus for today, but we will see them at NCS and we will be playing better teams along the way,” Kepler said.
The Giants’ next game is Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Redwood against Casa Grande High School.
Stats:
First Period: 6-0 (DLS) Second Period: 4-8 (DLS)
Third Period: 6-11 (DLS) Fourth Period: 9-11 (DLS)
Total: 11-9 (DLS)
