Game recap by guest reporter StickStarLacrosse.com
Dragons drop close one to move to 1-1 on the Season
Thursday night at John Clark Stadium, with 4:27 left in the final quarter, Plano West sophomore midfielder Palmer Friedman, found the back of the net to help lead the Wolf Pack to a 7-6 victory over the Southlake Dragons in a huge North District matchup of public school rivals.
The Wolfpack point allotment was spread out with 7 different players registering either goals or assists.
Freshman Wilson Murphree led the way with three assists, while junior attackaman Thomas Aniol pumped in back to back buckets in the 2nd quarter, and finally senior Cody Foster and junior Jackson Gunnels registered a goal and an assist to their credit. Finally, junior Jack Greene also scored once as well.
Thursday night was the first live game #StickStarReport17 has taken in, and it was tremendous. As you've heard us say, it was a game of runs, with plenty of back and forth throughout. Both Plano West and Southlake are in the playoff hunt and looking to see where they fit in the North District Hierarchy. Plano West moves to 5-1, with their only loss to Jesuit, by a bucket. Southlake moves to 1-1 with several tough games on the horizon.
For Southlake, junior Preston Deno tallied three goals, senior midfielder Casey Wasserman registered three assists, while junior Jeremy Bach scored twice as well. Rounding out the scoring was junior Paxton Garman with a goal, and senior AJ Van den Dyssel, and freshman Jacob Donfris each with an assist.
At the end of the 1st quarter it was Plano West up 3-2, and heading into the half the Wolfpack kept the lead 5-4. Going into the final stanza Southlake had made up substantial ground leading 6-5.
From start to finish this was an exciting game. There was momentum swings back and forth throughout, with some spectacular defensive stands sprinkled in. Plano West got it going early, scoring several goals, and creating a pretty sizeable lead in the first half, up 5-2 with just 2:27 left before the intermission. In those final two minutes of the 2nd quarter Southlake scored twice to bring the margin to just one, when it was three just moments ago. The game had tightened up.
In the 3rd it was all Southlake. The Dragons pumped in two more goals and held the Wolfpack scoreless. The Dragons had gone on a four-goal run, taken the lead, and the momentum shifted their way. To finish the quarter, the Southlake defense forced a timer on and a shot clock violation in front of senior goalie Eryk Ross to keep their clean sheet for the 3rd quarter intact.This game was tied early in the 4th and then there was a stalemate moving forward for much of the 4th quarter. Both defenses played tough, but it was the Wolfpack defensive unit that really buckled down. Southlake had several man up opportunities, and a prolonged possession at the end of the game, yet the Dragons just couldn't penetrate to get a great look on cage.
Both teams move on from a close game with quality matchups on deck. Plano West will take on hometown rivals, the Plano Wildcats next week, and then ESD. Southlake moves into a tough stretch of games playing HP this weekend and ESD before Spring Break.
Of course #StickStarReport17 is moving with purpose and will keep you covered every step of the way. This year we're adding a wrinkle to our Man of the Match. We'll have a fan voted, and an editor voted Man of the Match. Just trying to get more names in the paper. For this matchup we've got the Plano West Defense, locking in the honors.
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