On Sunday, April 13, the Millard West lacrosse team returned from Spring Break to host the Grand Cities Predators in a non-conference matchup.
From the opening whistle, Millard West controlled possession and dictated the pace of play in the first, but did struggle at times connecting on passes. Although shot volume was limited early, the Wildcats were active in transition, leading to junior Sam Kirchofer connecting with senior Thomas Massara near the cage, who finished low to put the Cats up 1-0 just past the midway mark that would carry to the end of the quarter.
“After our biggest break of games during the season, it was clear we initially came out cold,” Massara said. “Nothing was really going so getting that first goal was important for momentum. Later throughout the game we all figured it out again and could actually compete at our level.”
The second frame opened with back-to-back penalties on Millard West. A slashing call on sophomore Max Bunik gave Grand Cities their first man-up opportunity which they capitalized on to tie the game at 1-1. Less than a minute later, Grand Cities would again capitalize on a slashing man-up opportunity and put the Predators ahead 2-1.
Grand Cities extended their lead to 3-1 with just over six minutes left in the half, taking advantage of the Wildcats’ lapse in offense. Following a timeout from West, the Cats found an entirely different gear in a short amount of time.
Senior Luke White opened the barrage of scoring with a powerful shot from the top, cutting the lead to one, followed by two highlight reel goals from senior David Finnestad, jumping above defenders and shooting from behind his back, taking the 4-3 lead with 3:48 left to play in the half.
In the final minute, the Cats added two more goals by going end-to-end as Kirchofer netted his second followed seconds later by Massara who caught a pass on the wing and rifled it into the back of the net taking a 6-3 Wildcat lead into halftime.
“We know we kind of started slow offensively,” Finnestad said “Once we started clicking and connecting on passes to find the open man it became really easy from there. We had no doubts in our ability to score. We as a team just had to get there in position first.”
Millard West wasted no time resuming the scoring in the third. White added his second of the day, followed by senior Chase Oltman slipping through defenders and bouncing the ball past the Predators’ netminder to make it 8-3. Sophomore Max Gulick collected his first varsity goal moments before Finnestad added his third and fourth goals of the day—all within the first four minutes of the third—to make it 11-3 Cats.
With under two minutes remaining in the quarter, White added another pair of goals to take a commanding 13-3 lead into the final break.
With the Wildcats ahead by such a large margin, offensive backups entered the game along with a running clock. Both sides added one to the score within the first five minutes before play became more balanced. Grand Cities tallied the final goal with 17 seconds remaining, just before the clock hit triple zeros, signaling a dominant 14-5 Wildcat win.
“Coming out of Spring Break where a lot of guys were gone, preparation came down to each individual,” head coach Nick Brown said. “I think the boys handled a two week break of games well. We just started placing shots halfway through the 2nd quarter, we went from down 3-1 to going on a 12 goal run. I feel like that was expected coming out of such a long break but I am ultimately happy with how they played.”
Millard West returns to the field and NELAX play on Friday, April 18 at 6:30 p.m. taking on Elkhorn United on Senior Night as they look to keep their perfect record intact.
