On April 9, the Aragon boys lacrosse team (0-4 overall and Peninsula Athletic League) lost to the Hillsdale Knights (5-4 overall, 1-1 PAL) 16-4 in a long-standing school rivalry game. With the schools being just down the road from each other, they have been rivals since their opening. While the rivalry started on the football field, it has permeated into all sports at Aragon.
“Going into a game against Hilldale, we are just focused on winning,” said junior Harry Gurr.
In order to secure a win against longtime rivals, the lacrosse team has been working tirelessly since the beginning of February. With five practices a week, the team has begun to take shape. Because boys lacrosse is one of the sports on campus that does not field a JV team, the Dons have had to learn to work with players of all grade levels, in order to aim for success on the field.
“I have a core group of seniors,” said head coach Evan King. “I’m definitely looking to them for mentorship or guidance with these younger players and trying to get up that learning curve faster.”
This “learning curve” that King refers to, is the ability to know the strategy of the game. Because lacrosse is not typically a sport that students play until they join the high school team, most players have never played before, and thus need a lot of catching up in order to be ready come game time.
“It’s just what I call getting a stronger lacrosse IQ,” King said. “Being smarter lacrosse players in general.”
With the team still looking for their first win of the season, the rivalry game against the Knights seemed like a good opportunity to get a victory under their belts.
The Knights came out of the gate aggressively, winning the first draw and scoring their first goal within the first four minutes of the match during power play. The Knights continued their aggressive run in the first quarter, scoring four more uncontested goals in the next five minutes. This pushed the Dons to take the game’s first timeout to strategize and reset.
After coming out of the huddle, the Dons scored their first, and only goal of the quarter, on a shot by Gurr. Hillsdale answered with another goal of their own, making the score 6-1, Hillsdale, at the end of the first quarter.
The next quarter followed much of the same pattern, with Hillsdale playing quickly and assertively. The Dons were unable to score in the second quarter after several key turnovers and defensive troubles, allowing the Knights to score four more goals, leaving the score 10-1 at the end of the first half.
“I think today we really struggled with clearing the ball and staying on our men on defense,” said Gurr. “They got a lot of open goals which could have been preventable with more communication and execution.”
Despite this struggle, the Dons were able to start the second half with a strong drive, scoring their second goal of the game within the first minute of the quarter on a shot by senior Evan Chang. They were then able to hold the Knights to just two more goals before junior Anthony Martinez scored the Dons’ third goal of the game during a power play. The Knights once again answered with a goal of their own, but the Dons were unable to cash in during their final drive in power play. The third quarter ended with a score of 13-3, Hillsdale.
Hillsdale scored three more times at the top of the fourth quarter before Gurr scored his second goal of the game, Aragon’s fourth. That was the end of the scoring for the Dons who gave up one more goal before the end of the game, making the final score Hillsdale 16 – Aragon 4.
“We’ve had some big losses unfortunately, which is not something that this team is used to,” King said. “It’s going to take a lot of mental toughness just to be willing to come back out every game, every practice, put your cleats on, put your helmet back on and be ready to go to work.”
This sentiment is exactly what the Dons plan to do going forth in the season. Despite the less than ideal outcome of the Hillsdale matchup, the Dons still have five league games left and hope to win as many as they can. With their next game on April 23 at Priory, boys lacrosse has yet another chance to pick up their first win of the season.
