Lacrosse was played in the London Olympics in 1908, but then dropped as an Olympic sport. Lacrosse returned to the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928 as exhibition games. After five straight away games, it also felt like 20 years had passed since the JV Dons had played in front of their home crowd. They did not disappoint as they dominated the Bulldogs in the Acalanes Stadium.
The match started with Luke Spinelli in goal, surrounded by defenders Owen Hulst, Emerson Boudreau, and Jacob Stephen. Attackers Logan Houston, Jackson Tseng, and Andrew Iams waited by the Alhambra goal. Luke Dafferner began at faceoff as Ryan Yun and Harrison Mrachek stood ready to charge in to midfield. As the action seemed to go back and forth, Mason Lanphere and Anthony Quinn strategically subbed in. After Dafferner forced a couple of Alhambra drops, Iams was able to find Quinn in front of the Alhambra goal for a quick shot that found net; 1-0. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to intercept a Dons pass and run it back for a goal of their own to tie it up; 1-1. The JV Dons seemed to take this personally and responded with three unanswered goals. Dafferner made a strong run and assisted with a pass to Tseng who found the goal; 2-1. Later, after the Alhambra goalie dropped a blocked shot, Tseng was able to scoop it up for another goal; 3-1. After some strong play in the midfield by Curtis Sanders, Iams and Houston had some strong shots that just missed. However, Lanphere was able to find Quinn in front of the goal again for another Dons score; 4-1. The Bulldogs tried to get back on the board before the end of the quarter, but strong defense by Hulst and Boudreau forced some errant shots, and Spinelli blocked a last minute one that was on target.
The Dons began the second quarter with Nathan Ricci in goal, surrounded by Evan Rohrbough, Miguel Carmena, and Stephen in defense. Unfortunately, the Dons started out with a few rapid penalties which allowed Alhambra to play a man up. Despite Ricci blocking one shot, the Bulldogs got back on the board with their second goal of the match; 4-2. The Dons countered when Carmena picked up a loose ball, passed up to Houston who found Lanphere who ran in for a score; 5-2. At the next faceoff, Mrachek ran in from the sideline to pick up the loose ball and passed up to Houston who weaved between two defenders to find net; 6-2. Justin Theodoropoulos subbed in at middie and Iams was able to find the loose ball and weaved in on his own to also find net; 7-2. Iams followed up his goal by intercepting two pass attempts by Alhambra players who couldn’t seem to get past him. The ball found its way to Tseng for a goal; 8-2. Alhambra called a timeout to regroup, but the Dons came out of it in full attack mode still. Quinn found Dafferner for a strong shot that bounced over the goal. Lanphere had a strong shot that a defender was able to deflect. But, Quinn was able to pick up a dropped ball for his third goal of the half; 9-2.
As the third quarter progressed, it was more of the same… The Dons on strong attack and every time Alhambra managed a counter, the Acalanes defense stepped up strong or Spinelli made the save. After a Quinn shot sailed high, Tseng was able to run around the goal for a quick shot and score; 10-2. Boudreau put a stop to an Alhambra counterattack, but a dropped Dons pass led to an Alhambra goal; 10-3. After some back and forth play, Iams forced an Alhambra player to drop the ball out of bounds for a turnover. He quickly found Lanphere who ran in for a score; 11-3. Theodoropoulos got in on the action as he picked up the ball after the next faceoff and quickly ran it up and found net; 12-3. Carmena met an Alhambra attacker and forced a wide shot, which allowed the Dons to move the ball back up to Houston, who found a running Dafferner who scored; 13-3. After another Dons penalty, Alhambra was a man up. However, strong play by Carmena and Dafferner allowed Acalanes to counter when Tseng found a cutting Dafferner for another score; 14-3.
It was all Acalanes in the fourth quarter as Rohrbough and Dafferner intercepted Alhambra passes, leading to another Dafferner goal; 15-3. Sanders was able to quickly get in on the action with his own nice shot into the upper corner; 16-3. The final Acalanes goal came when Yun picked up a loose ball and found Iams who found the net; 17-3. The Bulldogs couldn’t gain any momentum as Carmena and Sanders forced turnovers and then Houston forced a running Bulldog out of bounds for a turnover. Stephen found himself subbed in on attack and had some very strong play trying to make room for a shot, but the Alhambra goalie caught the ball to end the game.
It was a great showing by the Dons coming out of their Spring Break. They hope to keep the momentum as they host Piedmont HS next Wednesday!
