Lacrosse falls to Wilson

The boys lacrosse team lost 12-9 to a powerful Wilson squad on Saturday, June 7, in the championship game of the Cascade Cup, held at the Lake Oswego Stadium. A huge crowd was in attendance, and the Outlaws fans showed up in force.

Wilson jumped out with three quick goals in the first quarter before Scott Nelson put one in and got the Outlaws on the scoreboard. The Trojans put in the next two goals to go up 5-1 before Nelson and Mark Fish scored to pull the Outlaws to within two.

Wilson's Taylor Day took over for the Trojans in the second quarter and scored four goals. The Trojans continued their domination and control, and at the close of the quarter held an 11-5 advantage.

Coach Bill Rexford told The Nugget that there wasn't much the Outlaws could do but try harder, and they did just that. Sisters went on a run with back-to-back goals from Jens Stadeli, and a goal each from Nelson and Fish to come within striking distance.

Unfortunately, time on the clock ran out, and the Outlaws' season came to an abrupt end.

"Although the outcome is not what we wanted, it gave me the best goodbye present a coach could ever want," said Rexford. "To see these boys play that hard till the end is all you want your boys to do. We can't control so much in life, but they did everything they could to try to win that game.

"What Wilson had was No. 24, Taylor Day, who was a beast of a player (four goals), and goalie Eddie Erickson who had a career day with 25 saves," added Rexford. "Erickson was just in the zone. Our effort and execution was there, but we tip our hat to Wilson for winning the game, and playing hard as well."

The scoreboard said that Wilson won the contest 12-9, but a closer look revealed some great statistics.

Sisters out-shot Wilson 46 to 26, and picked up 41 ground-balls compared to Wilson's 34. Casey Lane recorded 10 of the Outlaws' 41 ground-balls.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, June 4, the Outlaws defeated the Oregon City Pioneers 14-9 in the Cascade Cup semi-finals at home in Sisters.

Nelson scored the first goal of the contest four minutes in, but the Pioneers tied it up 1-1 with a little over three minutes left in the quarter.

Fish scored off a Zach Valoppi assist just 30 seconds into the second quarter to regain the lead for the Outlaws. Oregon City fought back and scored four consecutive goals to go up 5-2.

Nelson answered back with an unassisted goal 30 seconds later, and Fish wrapped up the second-quarter scoring with 43 seconds left on the clock. Lane Gladden was there for the assist, and at the half the Outlaws trailed the Pioneers 5-4.

The Outlaws came out in the second half firing on all cylinders. It was action-packed, with teams trading goals back and forth.

Jens Stadeli scored an unassisted goal two minutes into the third quarter to tie it up 5-5. Fish scored a goal with an assist from Valoppi at the six-minute mark and the Outlaws took a one-point lead. Nelson was injured in the play and limped off the field.

"I got whaled on and rolled my ankle, but did manage to steal the ball and get it to Valoppi," said Nelson.

Three plays later, just long enough to get his ankle taped, Nelson was back in the game.

Oregon City tied it up for the fourth time at 6-6 with four-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter. Sisters answered back with four goals in a row and pushed to a 10-6 lead. Fish and Chris Burdick scored unassisted goals, and Valoppi scored off an assist from Lane. The final goal of the quarter came with just over two minutes left on the clock. Tyler Head took a shot that missed the mark, but Chance Halley was there to scoop it up. Halley was able to toss the ball over to Fish who fired it in.

The Outlaws outscored the Pioneers 4-3 in the final quarter. Players rushed the field, and the Outlaws celebrated the win.

"This is just amazing," said Nelson through teary eyes. Scott's big brother Jared embraced him in a big bear hug as he continued, "I'm just so happy. I've been in this for four years, and we've never made it this far. This is just the greatest moment of my high school career."

Defensive player Porter Ford said, "The defense is going off this season! We play really well with the middies. We are building on the start of the season and are improving super-fast. It feels like these guys are part of my family. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."