Coppell Boys Varsity lacrosse travelled to Las Vegas this week, and took on one of the top teams in Nevada Thursday night, Palo Verde High School, who has won 4 Nevada State Championships in the past. Particularly impressive in the game for Palo Verde was Junior Trent Pernell (committed to play college lacrosse at Colorado Mesa), who posted a score or assist on 4 of Palo Verde’s 6 goals, and almost never came off the field.
Coppell dominated early possession and held onto the ball for the majority of the first quarter. Junior Reese Walker (2 goals on the game) started the scoring on a feed from Senior Spencer Haddock late in the quarter, and Palo Verde tied things up as the quarter closed out on a goal by Pernell.
Palo Verde grabbed momentum in the 2nd quarter, taking the majority of the shots in the quarter, and built a 3-2 lead going into halftime. But Coppell made some defensive adjustments in the 2nd half, forcing longer and fewer shots from Palo Verde. Coppell defensive short stick middies Joe Fex and Ethan Bivens played tight defense, grabbed several ground balls, and fueled some powerful clears to set up the offense with possession. Also, Senior Connor Choate scooped up 3 grounders and Senior Dylan Thompson grabbed two grounders and forced a turnover.
Senior Ryan Finglass (2 goals) started a nice scoring run for the Cowboys that allowed them to build a 6-4 lead, but Palo Verde again answered to cut Coppell’s lead to 1 goal to end the 3rd quarter.
The final quarter featured some big saves on the defensive end by Freshman goalie Hayden MacArthur, who had 8 saves on the game, and several great individual dodge-and-score plays from the Coppell Senior middies, including Ben Goyne (2 goals) Tommy Donalson, and Ripken Reynolds. Coppell also dominated the face-off line in the game, with Ripken Reynolds winning all 13 of his face offs, and Reece Reynolds winning 5 of his 7.
Coppell came away with the 10-6 win and will now take on Bishop Gorman High School Friday at 4:30 PM local time, and will then travel back to Texas on Saturday.