Men’s lacrosse captures victory at season opener
Skylar Blankenship
Staff Writer
The men’s lacrosse team faced up against Northern Virginia and Potomac State to mark a successful start to the season.
“The Vikings boarded a bus at McDonough Sports Complex at 5:30am on Sunday to drive almost seven hours to Northern Virginia and play a game that same day. Despite the long drive, the boys kicked off the season in dramatic fashion with a 30-2 statement against the Owls of Northern Virginia Community College,” said Head Lacrosse Coach Matt Johnson.
Johnson was impressed with the teams performance in V.A. He said the team excelled in every facet of the game.
“Three different faceoff specialists combined to win 31 of 35 faceoffs, and a perfect 12 for 12 on clears. The team picked up 57 ground balls and had nine different players contribute to the scoring line,” said Johnson.
Johnson continued, “Sophomore Aaron Thorpe from Ballston Spa dominated by scoring 8 goals and adding 6 assists for a school record 14 points. Freshman Lateke Murray out of Albany wasn’t far behind scoring 6 goals and adding 3 assists for a 9 point day.”
Johnson highlighted the noteworthy plays by select players on the field that day.
“Nate Bruce (Scotia) and Jose Gomez (Bethlehem) each added 4 goals and Mark Calicchia (Shaker) and Darren Nagy (Saugerties) added a hat trick on the day as well. The Vikings scored 20 goals in the first half which forced a running clock for the second half where they added their final 10 goals,” said Johnson.
The team then traveled three hours to Keyser, W.V.A. for their game the following day.
Johnson said, “Immediately off of the bus, the team was focused on their next game grabbing a quick ice bath then heading right down to the conference room to go over the scout for their game against Potomac the next day.”
The game kicked off at 2pm.
Soon after the game kicked off at 2pm, Johnson said Potomac jumped out to an early lead by taking advantage an unsettled play and throwing an unusual zone defense which the Vikings had not prepared for.
“At the end of the first quarter, we drew up a new zone offense that the team had not seen before and the team did an outstanding job implementing it, resulting in the Vikings outscoring their opponent 9-2 in the remaining three quarters,” said Johnson.
According to Johnson, Aaron Thorpe and Lateke Murray again led the team with 6 points a piece. Darren Nagy added two goals of his own and Nate Bruce finished with one.
As a result of the weekend games, several Vikings can be found in the national top ten in several categories.
Aaron Thorpe is leading the country in goals, assists and points with his line-mate Lateke Murray right behind him standing second in total points.
The Vikings will play game against Brookdale on March 14 for their home opener against Brookdale, then the team will face-up at another home again on March 17th against Union County.