Coppell Boys Varsity Lacrosse is making its way through one of the more difficult stretches of their schedule, as they take on three district opponents, all ranked in the top 6 teams in the state in Division 1, during an 8-day stretch that began last Friday.
The first test came last week as the Cowboys took on the then 6th-ranked Plano West Wolves. Plano West jumped out to the early lead on almost identical plays of Freshman Wilson Murphree finding Junior Thomas Aniol open on the crease for a pair of goals. But Coppell answered back with two goals of their own by Spencer Haddock (1 goal, 1 assist in the game) and Walker Cain (2 goals in the game), making it a 2-2 score to end the 1st quarter. The teams then traded goals throughout the 2nd quarter with Reese Walker (2 goals on the night) and Ripken Reynolds scoring for Coppell.
The 3rd quarter belonged to the defenses, with a total of 10 saves and only 1 goal scored between the two teams. Coppell held Plano West scoreless in the quarter, and Plano West goalie Ryan Darby showed why he is an Under Armor All-American and Johns Hopkins commit, adding several stops on his way to a 15+ save game for the Wolves. The lone goal in the quarter came on an impressive running shot by Coppell’s Reese Walker into the top right corner of the net, to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the final quarter.
Plano West pulled away in the 4th quarter as Senior Cody Foster (committed to play at D-1 Jacksonville) simply powered his way to his 2nd and 3rd goals of the game. Plano West grew the lead to 9-6 before adding an open-net goal in the final seconds for a 10-6 final score.
On Tuesday, the Coppell boys headed down to Highland Park to take on the #1-ranked Scots, who had just lost their first in-state game of the season this weekend to The Woodlands. The skills and experience of Highland Park became apparent quickly, as they worked their face off wins and fast transition offense into an early 4-0 lead. Junior Cooper Kneese scored 4 of Highland Park’s first 7 goals on his way to a 5-goal performance. The Cowboy defense settled a bit in the 2nd quarter and slowed the scoring, but HP still had a comfortable 8-3 lead at the mid-way point.
The offense for Coppell was spread evenly with 7 players scoring goals. Walker Cain had 2 goals and Zach Bartolacci and Spencer Haddock each posted one goal and one assist. Ryan Gordon was the top contributor from the defense, winning 3 ground balls, forcing 3 turnovers, and getting 1 assist. Goalie Hayden MacArthur had a busy night making a season-high 14 saves, but the Scots offense was too much as they powered their way to a 16-8 victory over the Cowboys.
Coppell will head back home for their next game on just three days of rest, when they take on Dallas Jesuit Prep on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 PM at Lesley Field. It will be another tough opponent for the Cowboys, as Jesuit is ranked 4th in the state of Texas.