Lacrosse team loses two tough games

The lacrosse team suffered a disappointing 14-6 loss to Summit at home on Tuesday, April 15 and then fell 17-12 to Westview on Friday, three days later.

Sisters was unable to set the rhythm in Tuesday's game and played to Summit's strengths.

"Personally, I think this was a great loss for our team," said Coach Bill Rexford. "I thought we'd fixed most of our problems, but we learned we have some work to do in all facets of the game."

Sisters spent 18 minutes in the penalty box. The Outlaws realize that they have to work first and foremost on avoiding penalty calls and staying out of the box.

On a positive note Rexford told The Nugget he felt his team still had many highlights in the contest.

"We showed lots of fight throughout the game," said Rexford. "We cleared well and when we did have the ball and weren't a man down we were able to put shots in the cage. I'm so happy we get to play these guys again at the end of the year. It will give our work a focus, and hopefully we'll be playing them for the league championship."

Nate Emberton scored three goals in the game, and Shawn Maurer, Ashton Sims and Carroll Gryder each scored one.

On Friday the Outlaws lost to Westview in bitter cold conditions. Westview, out of Beaverton, is a school of 3,000 students and boasts a lacrosse team that has played the game since grade school.

The Outlaws scored the first three goals of the contest, then lost the scoring momentum and went down 4-3 at the close of the first quarter.

"When we play settled offense, we score," said Rexford. "I don't care who we're playing. No one can stop Ashton (Sims), Nate (Emberton), Dom (Nieri) and Carrol (Gryder). They are just too athletic. Our biggest problem is our stick skills. We're just not refined enough to clear the ball effectively, and we play too much unsettled defense."

Sisters dominated the face-offs and actually out-shot Westview but on the flipside were gouged with 14 penalties.

Clint Ellson, the Outlaws' back-up goalie, stepped in for Thad Anderson, who was out of town for the weekend.

"Clint was fantastic," said Rexford. "He was ready and played as well as he could have and better than I expected. Despite the loss the team swarmed him at the end of the game and gave him a great big group hug."

Gryder had a break-out game for the Outlaws and scored four goals. Emberton had six goals in the contest, and Sims had four assists.

A big boost for the Outlaw team was having Marcus Gaboni back on the field. Gaboni was one of the four players lost in the contest against Sprague. The only player who will not make it back for the remainder of the season is Gaelan DeLeon.