On May 2, the Redwood boys’ varsity lacrosse team (10-0) defeated Tamalpais High School (6-3) 14-2 in the semi-finals of the MCAL playoffs. Despite Tam scoring in the early minutes of the game, the Giants took an early lead and never looked back. The top seeded Giants are set to play in the MCAL championship this Saturday, May 5 in an MCAL title game rematch vs. Marin Catholic
where they look to defend their crown.
Redwood came out of the gates hot, as early goals were scored by juniors Harri Hetrick and Nathaniel Kuffner to take a 2-0 lead early in the first quarter. Tam responded late in the period with a goal from freshman defender Blair Weiss to trim the lead 2-1, the closest score throughout the whole game. Hetrick closed the first quarter scoring two more goals for the Giants to grab a 4-1 lead. Hetrick lead the Giants offensively with four goals and two assists.
“My teammates were spreading the field open, giving myself the opportunity to get a bunch of good looks. It was my job to go capitalize on those shots that my teammates opened up for me,” Hetrick said.
Despite conceding a goal in the first quarter, the Giants played tight defense throughout the game, giving up only two goals and limiting Tam to very few opportunities. The Giants’ defenders played lockdown defense with contributions from juniors Jack Parsons and Nathaniel Kuffner as well as sophomore Max Ross. Ross was pleased with the way the Giants managed to slow down the Tam offense.
“We really packed the middle of the field and our slides were great today. We put a lot of pressure on them and forced a bunch of turnovers,” Ross said.
Entering the second quarter, Redwood was rolling with momentum and carried it throughout the whole game. After Tam’s first goal, the Giants went on a 12-0 run before Tam scored their only other goal in the final seconds of the game. Senior Brendan Hackett finished with three goals, and junior Zach Thoma chipped in with two, helping lead the way for the Giants.
Redwood will play Marin Catholic for the MCAL championship this Saturday, May 5 at 4 p.m. at Novato High School. Redwood has already played Marin Catholic this year, defeating them 8-7 in the regular season. This will be the fourth straight Redwood-Marin Catholic MCAL title game. Junior midfielder Luke Elders has played the past three and is looking forward to defending their title.
“I’m excited, we took them down last year, they took us down the year before, so this will be the tiebreaker for me. They’re a very good team with a lot of talent so it should be a great game as usual,” Elders said.
