Blazers fly past Falcons

MAY 2, BLAZER STADIUM—

The varsity boys' lacrosse team made Blazers proud by stepping up their play and defeating the Northwest Jaguars 10-3. Throughout the entire game, the Blazers put their expert passing and scoring skills to good use and had one of their most solid performances of the season thus far.

At the start of the first quarter the Blazers were quick to get possession, but a few minutes into the game, after several unproductive passes and turnovers, Northwest made a steal and was first to score a goal. The Blazers immediately snapped into action and maintained solid possession of the ball, and after a quick time-out from coach Robert Gibb, sophomore Mike Mozer made a speedy dash for the Northwest goal and scored to tie the game near the end of the quarter. After several skilled saves made by senior goalkeeper Robbie Ginsberg and a few missed shot opportunities by offensive players, the buzzer sounded for the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was highlighted by an increase in aggression from both teams, which resulted in a high level of tension for Blair players. Blair retained possession the majority of the time, and when a Northwest player made a swift steal and took the ball towards the goal, he was met by a fierce block by junior Russell King. Five minutes into the second quarter, senior Matt McClain bounced a swift shot into the top left corner of the net off of an assist from senior Phil Allen, giving the Blazers their second goal of the game. Four minutes later, Allen recovered the ball after several frustratingly close shots and hit the top right corner of the net for Blair's third goal, shortly followed by another from junior Tim Visclosky.

The Jaguars tried in vain to overpower the Blazers with their physical strength, but they were disappointed again and again. During one play in the third quarter, the Jaguars had an unmarked offender positioned in front of the Blazer goal. As a teammate passed to him Ginsberg made a move to body check the Jaguar, sending the ball out of his possession and into the waiting hands of McClain, who drove the ball down the field and passed to Mozer who scored another impressive goal.

After several sloppy turnovers, McClain gained possession once again, passing the ball to Mozer who scored his third goal of the game bringing the score to 6-2. In the next four minutes, Mozer scored twice more, boosting the Blazers' spirits and leaving the Jaguars in the dust. With thirty seconds left in the game, senior Pat McQuighan bounced a powerful shot into the top left corner of the net, ending the game with a score of 10-3.

After the game, the boys were very proud of their performance. "We went down early in the game, but in the second half we started shooting more which brought up our score," said Mike Mozer, adding "We played really well and really hard." Coach Gibb commented, "We played great offense tonight," adding hopefully, "We're looking to put a few wins together to make it to the playoffs."