Coppell Boys Lacrosse opened their regular season on Saturday against the visiting Kingwood Mustangs, who travelled up to the Metroplex from Houston. The Cowboys were facing a tough opponent, as Kingwood was the number two seed in the South District Super Regional Division 1 Playoffs last year, and they feature 19 Seniors on this year's Varsity squad. Both teams started a bit slowly on offense, with Coppell leading 3-1 after the first quarter. The scoring picked up in the 2nd quarter, as Coppell lengthened their lead to 7-3 by halftime, but things really opened up in the second half, featuring 23 more goals, and a total of 33 goals scored in the game.

Coppell first scored on a dodge and feed by Senior Max Lamendola to fellow Senior Peyton Barron, and Junior Dylan Colon added an unassisted goal a few minutes later to build a 2-0 lead. Kingwood scored its first goal on what would become a trend in the game, by capitalizing after a Coppell penalty to score a man-up goal. Coppell added a goal with just 12 seconds left in the quarter when Dylan Colon found Senior Leo Swaldi for his first of four goals in the game.

Colon started an effective scoring combination on the day by finding Junior Tyler Wendel for a goal. These two would connect a total of four times in the game for Coppell goals. Junior Gavin Osteen would then score an unassisted goal for the first of his four goals in the game. Close defender Colton Delk would get in the act in the third quarter by grabbing a loose ball and scoring an unassisted goal to give Coppell a 11-5 lead.

Colon would finish the day with a team leading eight points, including six assists, and Lamendola would tally 2 goals and 3 assists, to go with 6 groundballs, 2 forced turnovers, and winning 7 of 13 faceoffs. Tyler Wendel added 3 goals and an assist to go with 4 ground balls and 1 forced turnover. Junior Andrew Sullivan added 1 goal and 1 assist in the game.

On defense, the Cowboys were led by Senior goalie Hayden MacArthur who was one stop short of 20 saves on the game, for a 60% save percentage, and tallied 7 groundballs and 3 forced turnovers. Junior Colton Delk was all over the field, adding 3 ground balls and 4 forced turnovers to go along with one goal. Senior Davis Dodd was also active all game, grabbing 3 groundballs, 1 forced turnover, with an assist.

Coppell was able to outscore Kingwood in every quarter on their way to a final score of 20-13, and a season opening win. Next up for the Cowboys is McKinney, who will come to Coppell next Wednesday night for a 7:30 PM start time at Coppell Middle School North. Please come out and cheer on the Cowboys as they look to stay undefeated on the season.

The Coppell Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity lacrosse teams wrapped up their seasons earlier this month. The Varsity team finished the year by going 8-5 in the regular season and advancing to the first round of the North District Playoffs, where they lost to Highland Park, the eventual State Champion Runner-up. It was a strong bounce back year for the Cowboys after missing the playoffs last year, and they were led by strong contributions from each of the six seniors that will be moving on to college next year. Congratulations to Cowboys Head Coach Matt Mueller, who was voted by his peers as the THSLL North District Coach of the Year in his first season leading the Coppell program.

Senior Reece Reynolds will be attending Roanoke College where he will play lacrosse. Reece carried the faceoff burden for Coppell Varsity squad this season, taking 89% of the total faceoffs, and winning 57% of the draws taken. Senior Ethan Bivens will be attending Texas A&M University next year. Ethan was a two-way midfielder this year and led all offensive and defensive middies with 35 ground balls, while adding 10 goals and 2 assists. Senior Jack Liese will be attending Texas Tech University in the Fall. He was a first-line short-stick defensive middie this year and led the team in defensive middie shifts taken, while also adding 1 goal and 1 assist on the offensive end.

Senior Walker Cain will be attending the University of Texas at Austin this Fall. He started every game at attack and tied for first on the team with 15 assists and added 14 goals and 20 ground balls to go along with that. He was awarded the Cowboy Award by the coaching staff. Luke Bivens will be attending Texas A&M University this Fall. Luke played all over the field for the Cowboys this season, as an offensive middie, wing middie, and defensive middie, and he added 23 ground balls, 2 goals and 3 assists. Luke also was recognized with the Cowboy award. Senior Brandon Point will be attending the University of Oklahoma next school year. Brandon was a starting offensive middie for the Cowboys this season and was 2^nd among middies in goals scored with 11. He also had 9 assists for a total of 20 points, which was also 2^nd among offensive midfielders.

Other players recognized by the coaching staff for their strong performances this year were defensive MVP Colton Delk, Offensive MVP Gavin Osteen, top new comers Leo Swaldi and Max Lamendola, Iron Man Remi Reynolds, and overall MVP Hayden MacArthur. In the voting for All-District Awards, Colton Delk and Remi Reynolds received All-District recognition, and Gavin Osteen and Max Lamendola received All-District Honorable Mention.

It brings to a close the Junior Varsity Spring season as well, which saw the team finish with an outstanding 7-3 record on the year. Top offensive contributors were Aiden Strickland, Daniel Gonzales, Jack McAdams and Jacob Dashner at attack, and Andrew Sullivan and Bain Carter and midfield. On defense, Junior Davis Dodd led the unit at LSM and Sam Taylor led the goalkeepers in save % and fewest goals allowed per game. Treat Judlin took the bulk of the faceoffs on the season and posted a strong win percentage while filling roles as an offensive and defensive middie, prior to getting sidelines for the last couple of games with an injury. Congratulations to the Cowboys JV team on a successful season.

The Coppell JV Lacrosse team was back in action this week as they took on their first varsity opponent of the year in Denton Lacrosse this past Tuesday night at Lesley Field here in Coppell. In what would turn out to be an up-and-down game for both teams, it almost seemed to be four different games that took a sharp turn in outcomes each time the horn sounded to end the quarters.

Denton came out of the gate strong, scoring a goal in the first 12 seconds off of a face off win and fast break. They continued with their strong play throughout the entire first quarter, dominating the time of possession over the Cowboys, and drawing three straight penalties on Coppell. This helped fuel Denton to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

As the 2^nd quarter started, so did the Cowboy offense, as Freshman Alex Haydek dodged down the alley to score his first goal of the game. This would start a seven-goal run by Coppell, coming from seven different players, giving Coppell a 7-4 lead going into halftime. Additional goal scorers in the quarter were Jack McAdams, Daniel Gonzales, Andrew Sullivan, Aiden Strickland, Treat Judlin, and Carson Point.

And following form in the quarterly back-and-forth of the game, Denton would score the only 2 goals of the third quarter, cutting the Cowboy lead down to 7-6, and in a break from the pattern, Denton also scored the first goal of the 4^th quarter, tying the game back up at 7-7.

But the Cowboys quickly restored order from brief chaos, by scoring the final 3 goals of the game to take the 10-7 win. Sophomore Treat Judlin (2 goals, 1 assist in the game) and Alex Hayden each added their second tallies of the game, and Sophomore Jacob Dashner added the final goal. Freshman goalie Sam Taylor saved 5 of 8 on-cage shots to hold down the Denton offense in the second half, along with Andrew Sullivan (5 groundballs) and Junior Davis Dodd (3 groundballs, 3 forced turnovers). Treat Judlin also won over 60% of his faceoffs in the game.

Coppell JV will now take their 4-2 season record on a road trip to Austin this weekend, where both the Varsity and JV teams will take on Westlake (whose Varsity is ranked #1 in the state currently) and Vandergrift.

As the Coppell Boys Varsity Lacrosse team prepared for their district-opener last night against the top-ranked Jesuit Rangers, there were lots of things that pointed to a really exciting contest. The weather was beautiful, and the stands were full of fans from both programs, so the atmosphere was great. 

Jesuit entered the game with a perfect 7-0 record, ranked #1 in Texas by one state poll, and ranked as the #7 team in the Southeast United States by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. On the other side, Coppell came into the game riding a 4-game winning streak, ranked #8 in the state, with an offense averaging almost 12 goals per game and a starting defensive unit allowing only 4.7 goals per game. Add to the mix that Coppell had the confidence of having defeated Jesuit in the pre-season Jesuit Invitational tournament in January, and this game had the makings of a really competitive match up, and that is exactly how it went.

The game started off with both teams battling hard, and both offenses working through their progressions, waiting for a chance to take advantage of any small mistake by the opposing defenses, but neither team budged. It would be a close game throughout that would see the game tied or the lead change hands a total of 11 times. 

Coppell finally dented the scoreboard when Senior middie Brandon Point dodged his way to near the crease for an unassisted goal. Jesuit would have to lean heavily on their primary three midfielders (all are committed to play Division 1 lacrosse in college) throughout the game, and it was Senior middie Matthew Priddy who opened the scoring for the Rangers with 2:34 remaining in the first quarter. Providence commit and Junior middie Billy Metz (2 goals in the game) followed with an unassisted goal of his own with just 2 seconds left in the quarter to give Jesuit their first lead of the game heading into the first break.

Jesuit then turned to Senior middie Jacob Jackson (Michigan commit, 3 goals in the game) for all of their scoring in the quarter, but it was the Cowboy offense which really got heated up in the 2^nd quarter, notching 4 goals in the frame. Senior Walker Cain scored first to tie the game at 2-2, and it was Sophomore Tyler Wendel who found the net a few minutes later on a feed from Sophomore Gavin Osteen, which answered Jesuit’s first goal of the quarter and tied things again at 3-3. After Jesuit took the lead at 4-3, Osteen scored the first of his three goals of the game, this time on a feed from Brandon Point, to tie things at 4-4. Osteen then scored an unassisted goal with just 0:32 remaining in the half to give Coppell a 5-4 lead heading into halftime.

Both teams lost a bit of their offensive flow in the 3^rd quarter, as both defensive units stepped up their play and limited the scoring to a single goal by Jesuit, resulting in a 5-5 tie score entering the final quarter. Junior goalie Hayden MacArthur had a strong game for Coppell, posting double digit saves and an over 60% save percentage. Sophomore Colton Delk drew the assignment of covering Jesuit’s top-scoring attackman and was able to hold him scoreless on the game, while Delk also grabbed 2 groundballs and forced 1 turnover. Sophomore Canon Peters led the Coppell unit with 2 ground balls and 3 forced turnovers in the game.

Jesuit continued to dominate time of possession into the 4^th quarter, allowing them to score the next two goals and open up a 7-5 lead with just 6:49 remaining in the game. The Cowboys would answer back quickly on a strong dodge and feed from Junior middie Max Lamendola, who found Osteen (3 goals, 1 assist in the game) near the crease for a rocket shot that found the back of the net and drew Coppell back to within a single goal with 5:45 left to play.

The game intensified as every possession became critical at this point. Coppell was able to get a save and a possession with just over 1 minute remaining, but a loose ball scramble ended with Jesuit grabbing possession and eventually running the final minute out to get away with the narrow 7-6 win. 

In a game where both teams played at such a high level, it was hard to see either team come away with a loss, but the game certainly showed that both of these teams are capable of making runs into the post season and could potentially meet up again. Thanks to all the fans, students, and parents that were in attendance to help make it such an exciting game.

The Cowboys Varsity has a bit of a break as their next scheduled game is not until March 30, when both Varsity and Junior Varsity head to Austin for the weekend to take on Westlake and Vandergrift. Junior Varsity will play at home next Tuesday against Denton, so please come out and support the team.

Photo credits Kurt Liese

Coppell entered their March 7^th game with Lovejoy Lacrosse last week looking for their fourth win of the season and third win in a row. Both Coppell and Lovejoy came in with identical 3-1 season records, and each had a win over their only common opponent on the season, McKinney.

The teams both looked ready to take an aggressive offensive approach, as Coppell scored first on a fast break opportunity that ended with Sophomore Gavin Osteen finding Senior Brandon Point for the game's first goal. Lovejoy then took the following face off for a fast break with a missed initial shot, but one that was backed up and resulted in a goal to even the game at 1-1. At this point, both the offensive and defensive units for Coppell asserted themselves and put together their most impressive quarter of the season. The Cowboys defense was smothering and aggressive, minimizing quality scoring opportunities and possessions, and forcing numerous turnovers throughout the quarter while allowing no more goals. On offense, Coppell was efficient and productive, scoring the next nine straight goals of the game to finish with a 10-1 lead after the first quarter, effectively putting the game out of reach.

The early lead gave Coppell an opportunity to get several extra shifts for the entire roster, on offense, defense, and for their specialists. The scoring slowed a bit in the remaining quarters, but Coppell was able to add a few more goals and finished the game with a 16-5 win.

The defensive unit was impressive on their limited early opportunities, with Sophomores Colton Delk and Canon Peters each logging 2 ground balls and 2 take aways. Sophomore LSM Remington Reynolds made his impact on the offensive end of the field, scoring 3 goals and notching the first hat trick of his high school career. Senior Reece Reynolds was solid again at the faceoff stripe, winning over 80% of his face offs and grabbing 8 ground balls, along with Sophomore Tyler Wendel winning all four of his draws in the game.

On offense, top performances came from Senior Brandon Point with a perfect 3 goals on 3 attempted shots in the game,  Junior Leo Swaldi, who posted his 3^rd straight 3-goal game of the season, Junior Max Lamendola who had 2 goals and 1 assist, and Senior Ethan Bivens, with 2 goals, 5 groundballs, and 1 forced turnover.

Coppell will return from Spring Break to take on Houston Kincaid this Saturday, March 16, at 11 AM in Coppell. They will then start preparing for their Division 1 North/West District opener against Jesuit Dallas on March 20. Please come out to Lesley Field and support the team on March 16 and March 20 in their next two home games.

Photo credits to Kurt Liese