Southlake Black 7/8 Lacrosse advances to finals after a hard-fought victory over Plano West
Submitted by Jim Van den Dyssel
Undefeated Southlake 7/8 Black Champ Lacrosse Team Wins to Advance to Finals
In front of their largest crowd this year, the Southlake Black 7/8 Champ division lacrosse team remained undefeated following a close, hard-fought 6-5 victory against Plano West. The win propels them to the North Texas Youth Lacrosse League Championship game Friday night in Coppell.
From the start, Plano West benefitted from some exceptional goal-keeping, which secured their 2-0 lead despite a huge shot advantage for Southlake. The Dragons finally came to life in the second period with Casey Wasserman's goal. AJ Van den Dyssel then converted a rebound of Carson Green's blast to tie it at 2 all. Wasserman then scored off a Van den Dyssel assist to take a 3-2 advantage into halftime.
The lead was short-lived as Plano West scored a minute into the second half to tie at 3. After a crease violation took away a go-ahead goal, Wasserman found Van den Dyssel and his goal put the Dragons up 4-3. Lindell Stone scored on a long range blast to increase the lead to 5-3.
Even with a two-goal lead, play continued to be tight. Plano West scored with 3 minutes left in the period, and again with just 16 seconds left to end the third period knotted at 5-5.
With six minutes remaining in regulation, a penalty put the Dragons with a man advantage. Working behind the goal, Wasserman found Preston Deno open at the right side of the net and Deno's quick put-back gave the Dragons a 6-5 lead.
With just 46 seconds left, Plano West called time-out in the offensive end to organize a final attempt to tie the game. A crease violation awarded the ball back to Southlake and the Dragons successfully ran out the clock to the relief of their fan base.
The Black Dragon players also include Goalie Luke Millican; Defensemen George Elmquist, Michael Tsay, Ryan Thompson, Victor Simpson; Midfielders Clayton Keyes, Jack Johansson, Jeremy Bach, Nick Donfris and Attackmen Jake Gillen, Logan Peterson, Paxton Garman, Avery Smith and Davis Stairs.
The Black Dragons, coached by Neil DiBello and Joel Elmquist are now 12-0, outscoring their opponents 125 to 56. Highland Park earned to top seed in the East Division with a 11-0 record and an 82-31 goal advantage.
Lacrosse is the fastest-growing participatory sport in North Texas. The Southlake Carroll Lacrosse Association has over 450 families in their program. Players range from 1st grade to High School with both boy's and girl's programs. For more information please see Southlake Carroll Lacrosse Association.