Lacrosse is the oldest team sport in North America and it originated among Native Americans. Traditional games could last for several days and anywhere from 100 to 1,000 men would participate. In 1877 New York University became the first college in the US to establish a lacrosse team.
Much like that NYU team, the Acalanes JV Boys Lacrosse team is establishing itself with new coaches and half the team being freshmen players. They opened the season on Feb 20 with a tough 3-18 loss to a very strong Junipero Serra team. For some of the Acalanes players, it was their first ever lacrosse match. Despite the dominance of the Junipero Serra attackers, our defense and goalies Luke Spinelli and Nathan Ricci stood their ground. The Acalanes offense got on the board with two goals by freshman Mason Lanphere and one goal by freshman Logan Houston. New coaches Cole Tish and Will Schueler greeted their players with fist bumps to keep their heads high!
One week later on Feb 27 the JV Boys faced off against an arguably tougher team in Monte Vista HS. Freshman Luke Dafferner had strong faceoffs all night against a tough MV faceoff specialist (subbing off immediately after). Goalie Spinelli had too many saves to keep track of and was aggressive in defensively attacking MV shooters if they got close enough! Miguel Carmena and freshman Andrew Iams showed strong defense and checked many MV attackers into dropping the ball or making errant shots. There was plenty of Acalanes offense with strong play from Lanphere, Houston, Dafferner, freshman Jackson Tseng, freshman Anthony Quinn, and sophomore Justin Theodoropoulos. Sophomore Corbin Gallegos showed very strong midfield play before taking a short turn in the goal after a penalty was called on Spinelli. Gallegos and the Acalanes defense held strong and didn’t allow a score while being a man down. Our offense got on the board with Lanphere scoring two goals again and Houston scoring one goal again. Despite the Dons efforts, they ended up with a second loss, 3-15. But, again, plenty of fist bumps and heads held high!
On Friday Mar 1 the players, coaches, and parents braved torrential downpours and wind that was blowing umbrellas inside out. (Although it did stop for the second half.) From the get-go both teams struggled with the wet turf and losing the wet ball as players checked and knocked each other around. California HS got on the board early with a breakaway goal, 0-1. Dafferner has found his groove and dominated most faceoffs. The Dons attackers appeared organized as the coaches and sideline players yelled out specific plays for them to run. Unfortunately, California HS took advantage of a quick runback and scored again, 0-2. That would be the last goal the Dons would allow as they seemed to dig in their heels and turn the game around. Spinelli became dominant in the goal stopping or deflecting any shot on target as sophomores Emerson Boudreau, Harrison Mrachek, and Owen Hulst showed some fantastic defensive play continually knocking the ball out, blocking California’s attackers shots, and even pushing their attackers out the baseline. In the first quarter Lanphere had a beautiful long shot to put the Dons on the board, 1-2.
The second quarter seemed to be an onslaught of Acalanes shots that couldn’t find the net – Lanphere, Dafferner, Houston, Tseng, and Quinn all had shots wide, high, or off the bar. It wasn’t until a California penalty that they found the goal – a very impressive set play that involved quick movement by Lanphere, Houston, and Tseng to set up Quinn for the shot and goal, 2-2.
The Dons dominated much of the possession in the third quarter with strong faceoffs by Dafferner and more strong play by Lanphere who had a hat trick just in the quarter (4 total on the game). The other goal in the quarter came from a California penalty on freshman Curtis Sanders, allowing him to set up Quinn for a score – quarter ending 6-2 in favor of the Dons.
The fourth quarter saw even more Acalanes dominance, as the ball didn’t spend much time on the Acalanes defensive side. Dafferner, Quinn, and Lanphere continued to sling shots at the goal that unfortunately continued to go wide, high, or hit the post. After a California penalty, Houston found an opening for a strong shot from a tough side angle that found the net. The Dons scoring was capped by a beautiful threaded pass from behind the goal by Tseng to a cutting Sanders in front of the goal for a nice score. The JV Dons looked like they are getting more comfortable and established as a team and came away with a dominant win, 8-2!
Of note, in only three games, Lanphere has 8 goals, Houston has 3 goals, Quinn has 2 goals, and Sanders has 1 goal. Go Dons!
