Halfway through the first quarter, midfielder Christian Hofer drove down the right alley, took a diving shot and finished on the ground. The ball launched from his stick and ripped to the bottom right corner between the goalie’s legs. It was a crowd pleasing goal to start off the rival game.
On Thursday, March 5, the varsity boys lacrosse team fell to Oviedo, 8-6 at the Sam Momary Stadium. Going into the game, both intensity and mentality were charged, not only because of the rivalry, but because of former Hagerty student, attack man Kevin Croteau, who transferred at the beginning of this school year and now plays for Oviedo.
“There is something about playing Oviedo that gets our blood pumping and gets everybody hyped up. Having one of our teammates transfer to Oviedo just made us more angry and pushed us harder to try and win,” senior Cameron Garrison said. “Unfortunately that night just wasn’t our night.”
The first quarter was dominated by midfield play, but Hagerty was slow in attack. The quarter was plagued by turnovers from both teams. Oviedo was up 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Three minutes into the next quarter, Hagerty was up a man after an Oviedo defensive player was put in the box and able to tie the game 3-3.
“Our offense relies on man down plays to take advantage of the defensive numbers,” Garrison said.
Although Oviedo called a timeout near the end of the second quarter and scored shortly after, Hagerty increased the pace of the first half, with more possessions in the second quarter. Before the end of the half, middy Collin Bruno faked the defender, resulting in a goal, taking back the lead of the game.
“The turning point of the game was for sure the third quarter. Being up 6-4 in the beginning of the third was a great feeling – thinking we had it was huge to us,” Garrison said. “Things happen though and it doesn’t always go as planned.”
The quarter started with a Hagerty goal by Hofer, assisted by Bruno. Hagerty survived being down two players due to penalties. This allowed Oviedo to gain momentum and quickly tie the game.
An intense fourth quarter took place, with many more turnovers as Hagerty battled to win. Oviedo was a man down with three minutes left in the game, but Hagerty was unable to score. Hagerty called a timeout with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the offense fizzled out in a tough loss to Oviedo.
“Overall though it was our best game… it was an all out battle with Hagety’s biggest rival,” said Garrison.