Coming off two losses in their unofficial season, the Wildcat JV lacrosse team suited up to play the Papillion LaVista South Titans on Saturday, March 12. 

The game began with the Wildcats taking possession of the ball and keeping it on their half of the field. Although they were able to do this, they weren’t able to capitalize on many dodges, however, one worked out in their favor, as freshman Cash Long put the ball away. Following this, no shots were made by the Wildcats and a penalty caused a turnover, which gave the Titans good positioning. Along with this, it was one of the first times the Titans had crossed the midline due to the Wildcat passing. Luckily for Millard West, the Wildcat defense stepped up and stopped the advances at goal. Shortly after this occured, both teams kept giving the ball back and forth to ultimately end the quarter.

“The game was a learning experience for all of us,” sophomore Drew Holdsworth said. “We learned many things and one big thing was passing and catching. We have to be solid on that for us to even get a chance to score.”

The second quarter started with the Wildcats winning the face off and running the ball down the field. Once again with the ball on the opponent’s half of the field, Millard West struggled to get the ball in the net. After several dropped balls and many passes around the cage, the Wildcats had one good dodge where they came close to scoring but couldn’t finish. Finally, several minutes later, Millard West increased their lead with a quick shot after a ground ball. A little after this, they were able to capitalize again, with a turnover and a quick pass for a shot by sophomore Kaden Sellmeyer. Lastly, right before the quarter ended, both teams were able to score one more goal, Sellmeyer putting it away for West, ending the quarter 4-1.

The third quarter began with Wildcat sophomore Bryce Kriha scoring quickly and Millard West taking the next face off fairly easily. Although they got the ball, they lost it when a Knight stick checked a Wildcat, and quickly took the ground ball. This led to a shot, which was not delivered with power, that the goalie easily caught. The Titans were able to keep the ball on the Wildcats side for the next couple minutes, playing with higher speed and intensity. Finally, as the Wildcats got possession back, the clock hit zero, taking them to the final quarter.

“The team did very well for one of our first games,” Kriha said. “For having almost a brand new team we started to come together better and make plays as a whole.”

Once again, Millard West won the face off, and started the fourth quarter on the right foot. The momentum was back and forth, as neither team could put a shot away. This was the flow throughout most of the quarter and slowed down the game. The fast breaks and sprinting turned into settling and jogging due to each team losing energy. This eventually ended the game, with the Wildcats on top.

“I think our team did fine but we could have made a lot of improvements,” freshman Drew Zealand said. “Although we came out with a win, we had lots of unforced turnovers, which seemed to be a big setback for the team”

The Millard West Lacrosse team will be back in action this upcoming weekend. They will be playing in a fundraiser game Friday night, along with one JV and varsity game against Westside on Saturday, March 19.