The Chaminade Flyers (NY) defeated the visiting St. Ignatius Wildcats (CA) by a final score of 5-4 at Chaminade High School on Thursday afternoon.
The win moves Chaminade to 9-0 on the season. St. Ignatius suffers its first loss of 2013 and falls to 15-1. The loss snaps an 18-game winning streak for the Wildcats and marks their first loss since April 21 of last season to Torrey Pines (CA).
Chaminade continues its impressive 2013 run, adding another quality win to a resume that already includes victories over Manhasset (NY), West Islip (NY), Fairfield Prep (CT) and St. Anthony’s (NY).
A tremendous effort in goal by St. Ignatius keeper Cyrus Scott (Colgate) kept the Wildcats in the game, especially early. Chaminade dominated time of possession in the first half, but solid 6-on-6 defense and absolutely stellar goaltending by Scott including some highlight-reel kick saves kept the game close. Chaminade entered the half leading, 4-1.
St. Ignatius would open the scoring in the second half, as attackman Joe Lang (Harvard) made a stellar move and found teammate David Fleming (Fairfield) wide open on the backside, who finished on a half-empty net. But Chaminades Ryan Lukacovic (Virginia) would net his third of the game to push the lead back to three at 5-2 with about nine minutes left in quarter.
But more stellar goaltending by Scott would again swing momentum in favor of the Wildcats, who would capitalize with two quick goals at the end of the third to cut the deficit to 5-4 entering the fourth.
But St. Ignatius would get no closer. Chaminades defense who entered the game allowing only 3.9 goals per game lived up to their billing and would come up huge in the fourth.
The quarter was defined by long, fruitless possessions for each team until the final minutes, where a hectic back-and-forth pace resulted in the Wildcats having a few quality chances to tie the game. St. Ignatius would call timeout with 31 seconds remaining and the ball, but could not get a quality shot on goal before time expired as the Flyers held on for the win.
This was an excellent, competitive and cleanly-fought game between the teams who clearly had plenty of respect for each other. While Chaminade earned the victory Thursday, the real winner was the growth of the sport on the West Coast. Not only did St. Ignatius hold their own against one of the best teams in the country, but they also belonged on the field and did not look out of place by any means. It was a pretty cool moment for the sport when a team from the West Coast – where lacrosse is beginning to grow in a big way — can compete with a perennial East Coast power.
Be sure to check back for much more from this one, including a video recap and game observations.
_______________________
Follow us on Twitter:
@SpikeMal
@LacrosseRecruit
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SportsRecruits1