Over the weekend, the Millard West lacrosse team drove down to Kansas City to compete in their first JV and varsity games. Although some of them didn’t have the outcome they expected, there was one game that stood out.

The Blue Valley East game began with the Tigers scoring an easy bottom left shot to put them up by one. Following this, Millard West responded quickly with junior Alex Warren juking several Tigers out to complete a pass to freshman Luke White for a goal. After a few minutes, Millard West was able to get the ball up to junior Reef Beal to hit an underhand shot, putting the score at 2-1. Just seconds later, Beal was able to find space again and score yet another goal. This led to quarter two, with the Wildcats scoring two more before the clock ran out made by freshman David Finnestad.

“I think we were able to settle the ball more compared to the previous game,” Finnestad said. “On top of that we were able to fix some of the little things and control the ball.”

The next quarter began with Millard West maintaining possession of the ball and rotating it around the net. With several missed opportunities and good Blue Valley East defense, the Wildcats were left scoreless for the first couple minutes. Although this lull occurred, Millard West capitalized on a defensive error minutes later, and White hit a bottom right shot. This was followed by a Wildcat getting a foul and Blue Valley East getting the ball in their possession. This was one of the first times this quarter the Tigers had possession, and within seconds, they were able to score a shot from far out. Right before halftime, the Wildcats were able to finish on a couple more shots growing their lead even more.

“I think the defense got progressively better from quarter to quarter,” freshman Jack Fedde said. “We flushed the bad stuff down the drain and focused on adjustments, which worked out in our favor.”

The second half started with Blue Valley East taking the momentum and keeping the ball on the Wildcats half of the field. Despite this occurring, they were not able to score on many of their attempts due to Millard West’s defense stepping up. After a stop and a quick turnaround, Millard West was able to push the ball up the field and score a close quarter goal. Following this, junior Bordy Gorseth was able to truck a Tiger and maneuver his way around the crease to score top right. This ended the quarter, with little time left and no scoring.

“I think the team could’ve worked on getting the ball around on offense more,” freshman Drew Zealand said. “We were able to stay strong defensively and play a good defensive game, and that was enough to get the job done.”

The final quarter of the game began with the Wildcats losing the ball and the Tigers getting in transition. After a few passes and unsuccessful dodges, they finally found an open man to hit a top right shot. After this, they maintained momentum and used speed to beat Millard West’s defense once again, finishing on a close shot. Rounding out the game, both teams scored a few more times, but the Wildcats held their lead until the end. The final score was 15-11 and gave the Millard West varsity team a 1-1 record.

The Wildcats varsity team will be back to play against the Westside Warriors on Saturday, March 19. This will be their first district game and will take place at 4 p.m.