Last Friday night, the Coppell Boys Varsity Lacrosse team took on neighboring rival and District opponent Southlake. Coppell was in need of a victory in the game to force a potential three-way tie with Southlake and Flower Mound for the final playoff spot in the North Division 1- West District.

Coppell jumped on the scoreboard right out of the gate on an unassisted goal by Senior Reese Walker just 41 seconds into the game. Southlake answered back with a couple of goals of their own before Coppell was able to retake the lead when Freshman Gavin Osteen first found Junior Walker Cain open on the crease for a close-range goal, then Osteen scored an unassisted goal to give Coppell the 3-2 lead after the first quarter of play.

Southlake dominated possession and was the more aggressive offensive team in the second quarter, firing a heavy load of shots at the Coppell cage. The Coppell defense struggled to keep track of Southlake Senior midfielder Jeremy Bach, who either scored or assisted on 6 of Southlake’s 9 goals in the game.

Senior Zach Bartolacci scored on a feed from Gavin Osteen with 4 minutes left in the first half, which pulled the cowboys to within 1 goal heading to the halftime break, with Southlake leading 5-4.

Coppell unfortunately would not score again for over two quarters of play, which placed pressure on the Coppell defensive unit to play through long possessions by Southlake and try to keep the score close. Freshman Remington Reynolds grabbed 5 groundballs on the night, and Senior Harper DeLoach had 2 groundballs and 2 forced turnovers. Sophomore Goalie Hayden MacArthur posted 12 saves and a 57% save percentage on the night while facing 34 total attempted shots.

In comparison, Southlake’s defense faced 23 total shots in the game, making only 5 saves, but it was enough to hold Coppell to 7 goals, and the Dragons came away with the 9-7 victory. Scoring leaders on the night for Coppell were Senior Reese Walker (1 goal, 2 assist), Junior Ethan Bivens (2 goals), and Freshman Gavin Osteen (1 goal, 2 assists).

Coppell will now finish their regular season play this week with a Tuesday night road game against two-time defending state champion Jesuit Dallas, followed by hosting McKinney on Friday night, which will be Senior Appreciation Night for the Cowboys, so please come out and support our Seniors in their final home game.