Water polo is a sport played with 7 players per side. The Casa Grande JV lacrosse team only had 9 players total. So, the Aca JV Boys lacrosse squad was once again facing the challenge of playing a 7v7 game. And, with Saturday’s downpour, it had the feel of a water polo match. However, as we got closer to the initial faceoff, we witnessed a break in the weather and even a peak of sun to start the match.
Unlike the squad’s last 7v7 match, which was played on a shortened coned off field, this 7v7 match was played on the full regulation field. With our regular faceoff specialist, Luke Dafferner, out with injury, Anthony Quinn and Mason Lanphere took turns at center field… and they did well! The Dons came out strong right away in the first quarter with Quinn winning the faceoff, which led to a shot by Andrew Iams that just went wide. The pass in to Lanphere led to his first goal of the morning; 1-0 Dons. Casa immediately returned the favor with a nice cut across for their first goal; 1-1. The Dons had their own immediate response as Lanphere won the next faceoff and ran it up himself for an immediate score; 2-1 Dons. Casa continued to attack, but were shut down by defenders Owen Hulst and Eli Romick. The Dons mounted some impressive set plays with Jackson Tseng, Iams, and Quinn, but were unable to find the net. Casa was able to run it back and pass to an open man by the goal. Goalie Luke Spinelli immediately challenged the attacker but he was able to score on an off-balance shot; 2-2. The Dons middies, Ryan Yun, Logan Houston, Quinn, and CJ (Varsity) subbed in and out and added fresh legs to aid both attack and defense and force some turnovers. Ultimately, Lanphere scored his hat trick goal to end the quarter; 3-2 Dons.
The second quarter saw more of the same attack by Iams and Tseng, along with middies Lanphere and Quinn. Casa mounted an attack that Spinelli blocked, but the ball bounced back to the Casa attacker for a second chance goal; 3-3. The Dons countered with an Iams shot that the Casa goalie deflected right back out to Tseng who then converted for a goal; 4-3. On the next Casa attack, Lanphere knocked the ball loose, which led to a pass up to Quinn, then on to Iams for a nice goal; 5-3. Curtis Sanders subbed in at middie and immediately forced a Casa turnover, which led to a Quinn shot that was saved. Sanders was then fouled right out of one of his shoes, so the Dons were up one on penalty. The Dons attackers were able to find Quinn for a nice quick goal; 6-3. Quinn immediately followed with a second goal as he cut across in front of the crease; 7-3. The Dons continued their attack as Iams passed to a cutting Tseng for another goal; 8-3. Lanphere got back in on the action as he ran up and bounced a shot into the net for his fourth of the morning; 9-3. Spinelli continued to save Casa attacks and one pass out to Iams led to an open Quinn for his hat trick goal; half ending with the Dons up 10-3.
Casa Grande came out in the third quarter with a renewed energy and immediately scored; 10-4. However, the Dons countered when Houston had a nice screen to free Iams for a pass to Quinn for his 4th goal; 11-4. Spinelli continued to catch or block shots to keep the scoring low for the quarter.
However, the Gauchos challenged strong in the 4th quarter, and the Dons didn’t seem to be able to gain any momentum, as Casa scored four unanswered goals as the rain began to come down again; 11-8. Hulst and Evan Rohrbough seemed to tighten up the Dons defense to prevent any further scoring. The Dons attack was able to mount one last goal as Iams found Lanphere who found the net for an impressive 5th goal on the morning; 12-8. Casa immediately went into desperation mode, which seemed to give them an extra last minute boost in energy. But, Spinelli played strong and even stepped out of the crease to stop some shots. The game came to an end as Hulst forced a bad pass on Casa’s last attempt. Game ending with the Dons winning their 5th in a row, 12-8. The JV Boys hope to continue their streak as they meet Clayton Valley on Tuesday 3/26.
