The Coppell Varsity Boys Lacrosse team played their second game in as many days, hosting Memorial High School of Houston at Lesley Field in Coppell on Sunday afternoon. After narrowly pulling out the win on Saturday in a tightly contested game with Plano West, Coppell was hoping to start fast, build up a lead, and control the action against Memorial, but that is not how things played out Sunday.
The Cowboys had their chances early on, but the storyline in the first half was dominated by poor ball security and risky passes that led to the highest turnover total on the season for Coppell, including 16 turnovers in the first half alone. Coppell did get on the scoreboard first on a pretty feed from Junior Brandon Point to Senior attackman Reese Walker, who scored three goals in the game to lead the Cowboys. Memorial scored about two minutes later to even things up, but Coppell quickly answered when Junior Ethan Bivens found Senior Zach Bartolacci for a score, and Coppell ended the first quarter leading 2-1.
The defensive play picked up at both ends of the field in the second quarter, as each goaltender made some nice stops and the turnovers continued for both teams. Ethan Bivens notched his second assist of the game, finding Reese Walker for another of his goals, and the Cowboys took a 3-2 lead into halftime.
Coppell came out sharper in the third quarter, but again the defenses controlled the tempo and scoring. Ethan Bivens led the Cowboys with 5 groundballs won on the day, followed closely by Sophomore LSM Reid Robbins, who had 4 groundballs won and forced 2 turnovers. But it was Senior close defender Hayden Lowrance who tuned in the play of the day that really swung the momentum in Coppell’s favor. Lowrance, who was making his first start of the season, played aggressive defense throughout the game, forcing two turnovers. With Coppell leading just 4-2 midway through the 3rd, Lowrance took a pass at midfield on the Coppell clear, dodged past a couple of defenders, and sprinted towards the goal and fired a shot from about 15 yards out into the back of the net, which ignited the Cowboys sideline and crowd.
Faceoff specialist Reece Reynolds was solid again, posting well over 70% win percentage on the game, and goalie Hayden MacArthur was strong in the net for Coppell, posting double-digit saves and stopping 73% of on-cage shots in the game.
Coppell finally put some distance between themselves and Memorial in the 4th quarter, scoring four goals and allowing only one. Freshman Gavin Osteen found fellow Freshman Dylan Colon on a nice feed to the crease for one goal, and then the pair repeated the feat again on what looked like a replay of the first, just a few minutes later.
Coppell came away with the 9-4 win, lifting their record on the season to 3-1. The Cowboys next game will be at home this Thursday, when they play host to traditional lacrosse powerhouse, the Episcopal School of Dallas Eagles.
Coppell was also victorious in the JV match played Sunday afternoon against Memorial’s JV squad. Coppell took the lead early and grew the lead out to 7-3, on goals from Cole Kaiser and Dylan Colon. Lee Martin was also strong in net, making several acrobatic saves to keep the lead in place.
Memorial made a late run in the 4th quarter, tying the game up temporarily at 7-7, but Coppell quickly answered back with another goal by Colon, and they hung on for the 8-7 win. Coppell JV also has their next game this Thursday night against ESD.