Landon Lacrosse 17 –GP 6

It is always great to celebrate a lax win, “Mo betta” when it closes an IAC undefeated season, an exceptional pleasure to record another IAC Tournament title, exultation to post the 33^rd IAC title and ultimate triumph to announce that the VICTORY was over the Little Hoyas. A second defeat of the boys from Rockville Pike is the sweetest as GP was ranked by IL as its preseason #9, currently #12 and a roster stacked with big time recruits. History (MaxPreps- not 100% reliable) indicates that the +11 goal margin may be the biggest in the past 10 seasons.

As with the 1^st encounter, GP scored first at 11:27. The Bears responded with a canon shot from SHANE ROBERTSON @ 8:02. Soon thereafter, TROY ULISNEY connected with ANTHONY PANETTI for the go ahead goal @5:14. LANDON would lead for the remaining 43 minutes.

The Bear D held the little Hoyas) – held the vaunted Prep O (Goals scored average 13 gs, except v. Landon) to 1 shot and the Home Offense was 2 for 2 on shots. HAYDEN GOOZH was 2/2 at X.

END OF FIRST QUARTER BEARS 2 —little Hoyas 1

The next stanza saw the home team extend its lead to +5. SHANE benefitted from a nice assist from SEAN MURRAY @11:55. The Rockville Pike gang notched its solitary score of Q2 at 10:05. KEVIN MILLER exhibited his deceptive deke @7:26. SHANE’s Beehive Buzzer was another impressive tally @4:10 and another feed from SEAN on an EMO play. SHANE nailed his 3^rd of 4 goals @ 1:04. Bears never waste seconds; so RILEY LUGAR found KEVIN @0:09.8.

The D (in numerical order—ZACH ABRAMSON, ELI SMINK, NIKKO BASKOT, CHRISTIAN DAYMUDE, DAVIS OWENS (several CTOs), AHMED ZAID,JAMES SCHMITT, NATHAN FURGESON,CARTER DESANTIS, JT MATHURA, LOGAN CASSIDY and a host of 2 way middies) to 7 shots for P2. The Hoyas only had 4 SOGs and ZACH stopped 3. TILLER SMITH won 3 of 5 faceoffs and HAYDEN was ½.

HALFTIME BEARS 7 — little Hoyas 2

Four Bears added to their lead before GP got one. TROY beat the GP netminder @11:45. Number 9 saw CADEN SOUTHWITH passed to SEAN @5:36   and KEVIN (I’ll be HOYA, not little) added to his total @2:56. GP scored at 1:41.

ZACH stopped 1 of 2 SOGs (INCREDIBLE BEAR D!!!); while his Bear teammates blasted 8 shots. TILLER was 1/3

END OF THIRD QUARTER BEARS 11—little HOYAS 3

Relevant aphorism (~Samuel Johnson) “nothing so focuses the mind as the shadow of the gallows”; so, the Visitorsnow were more offensive—11 shots, but Zach stopped 4 SOGs (goals at 9:31, 9:14and 3:27).

The Bear O Machine, designed by Coach Kubik, did not slow down. KEVIN to SEAN @10:01; TROY unassisted @6:21; then TROY assisted SEAN @ 4:10 on a “powerplay”. Seniors were rewarded with their years of service with playing time (numerical order)—JACK BURKE, STEELE MADDUX, HANK MADUX, KAMAL SKEETE RIDLEY KENDALL and SKEETE RIDLEY. STEELE took a pass on a fast break and goaled @ 4:42 and again he beat the 2^nd GP goalie @ 0:50.7. Landon’s19^th goal—from senior JACK to ANTHONY was also the occasion for a well-deserved GP 2 minute unreleasable penalty.

The X-men were a collective 3 of 5.

FINAL SCORE BEARS 18 little Hoyas 3

COMMENT: having watched Landon Lax since 2010, this roster was among the most impressive in their BEAR BROTHERHOOD- great senior leadership, the ‘25ers demonstrating a readiness to move to the front next year and the underclassmen understanding the Bear Culture. The next few years hold promise.