The Cowboys Varsity Lacrosse team hosted out of town opponent Drippings Springs on Sunday, despite another day of weather that would make you think lacrosse is a winter sport, not a spring sport. Drippings Springs, playing out of the Central Division near Austin, made the quarterfinals of the Division 1 state playoffs last season, and traveled up to Dallas this weekend for games against ESD and Coppell.
The Cowboys were able to win early possessions, and the Coppell offense found lots of open shooting lanes against the Dripping Springs zone defense in the first six minutes, but they came up empty on converting any of those opportunities until Sophomore Gavin Osteen finally scored a goal, and then things got rolling from there. Osteen scored the first 3 goals of the game for Coppell on assists from Senior Walker Cain, Junior Leo Swaldi, and Cain again. Swaldi then scored the next 3 goals on assists from Osteen, Senior Brandon Point, and Sophomore Tyler Wendel. Sophomore LSM Remi Reynolds got into the offensive action by scoring a goal and assisting on the next to Cain, giving Coppell an 8-4 lead going into halftime.
The defense had a few missed assignments in the first half allowing Dripping Springs to stay in the game, but played a very clean 3rd quarter in which they allowed no goals while the offense built up the lead and put things out of reach. Sophomore Colton Delk played lock down defense against the Tigers top scorer on the season, while forcing 4 turnovers and grabbing 3 groundballs. Remi Reynolds grabbed 7 groundballs and forced 3 turnovers to go along with his goal and assist. Senior Ethan Bivens and Junior Peyton Barron added 3 groundballs each from their midfield positions.
Senior FOGO Reece Reynolds took every face off in the game and provided the Cowboys with several extra possessions, winning 15 of 24 face offs and grabbing 6 groundballs. Junior Goalie Hayden MacArthur got on a run of saves in the second half, finishing the game with 10 saves and a 67% save percentage. Coppell was effective with their ride for the game, leading to 8 failed clears by the Tigers. The Cowboys also dominated in the groundball department, posting a 35-18 advantage.
Two Coppell attackmen posted hat tricks for the second game in a row—Gavin Osteen (4 goals, 4 assists) and Leo Swaldi (3 goals, 3 assists). Seniors Walker Cain and Brandon Point each scored 2 goals and had 2 assists each. Junior Daniel Gonzales added 2 goals, and Sophomore Andrew Sullivan got his first goal of the season. The Cowboys were able to play deep into their bench in the fourth quarter and came away with the 15-7 win.
In the early game, Coppell JV took on Jesuit Dallas Prep Blue JV. The teams played close through the early part of the game, with Coppell having a 2-1 lead after the 1st frame. But Coppell found their offensive rhythm in the 2nd quarter and was able to grow the lead to 5-2 by halftime. Junior Daniel Gonzales was again the top scorer for the Cowboys, posting his first hat trick of the year, and Sophomore Andrew Sullivan assisted on two goals, including one to Freshman midfielder Ty Raushenbach. Freshman goalie Sam Taylor had 4 saves on 6 attempted shots in the half.
In the second half, the Coppell offense slowed down and the Rangers were able to go on a 4-goal run, including 3 scores in the final 4 minutes. Jesuit was able to get away with the 6-5 win, handing the Coppell JV their first loss of the season.
The Coppell Varsity team will be back at Lesley on March 7 at 7:30 PM to host Lovejoy, which will be the last game before the teams head into Spring Break.