Boys lacrosse takes on two rivals

The boys lacrosse team lost 9-4 at Thurston on Tuesday, April 26, and two days later fell 16-2 at home against Mt. View. Although the young squad isn't getting many wins, they are improving on their fundamentals every week, and look for a bright future.

In Tuesday's game against Thurston, the Outlaws were even at 1-1 at the close of the first quarter, due to an unassisted Keeton Green goal.

Thurston scored five goals in the second quarter, and at the half held a 6-1 advantage over the Outlaws.

Samson Magnus scored two unassisted goals for the Outlaws in the second half. Keeton Green also scored unassisted for Sisters' final goal of the contest. Thurston tacked on two more goals to secure the win.

The big highlight for Sisters was Magnus' play in the second half. Samson had two exciting goals that lifted the Outlaws' spirits and gave them renewed energy.

"One goal had Samson wrapping around the goal and shooting, while diving in front to the goalie," said Coach Eric Wentzel. "His second goal was a feed by Willie Stewart, which Samson was able to catch, turn, and beat the Thurston goalie."

Matt Harris led the team with 11 ground balls.

"Matt is leading the teams in ground balls," said Wentzel. "He enjoys getting the ball before his competitor. When we have ground ball competitions during practice, Matt usually finds himself in the finals, typically winning."

Casey Warburton also had a good game and made 11 saves in the goal. Wentzel told The Nugget that Casey is connecting key long passes to the offensive players, which allows for offensive fast breaks.

"We've been struggling in our earlier games with long passes, so we've been putting extra focus on this during practice, and we're starting to see the results of that work," said Wentzel. "We're seeing improvements from the team as a whole. We continue to face teams with majority upperclassmen, and the Outlaws are finding the fortitude to compete against them."

Two days later, the Outlaws got clawed at home by the visiting Cougars.

Mt. View scored two in the first quarter and held the Outlaws scoreless to take an early lead. In the second, Sisters scored two goals and only allowed the Cougars to punch in one.

Sisters' two goals in the second quarter came off an unassisted Magnus goal, and a goal by Keeton Green with an assist from Trey Stadeli.

The Outlaws were held scoreless in the second half, and the Cougars recorded the win.

Wentzel said, "The majority of our guys have really been struggling in the second quarter for most of the season. This shifted for us this game, and we were able to score two goals. We saw a different attitude during this quarter, which really excited our fans. This was a very challenging game because we only had two substitute players. "

The Outlaws will play in the SALI tournament May 7-8.