Blue Devils lacrosse clinches the title in matter of seconds

By Inés Guinard,

HUB Staff–

On May 15, the men’s varsity lacrosse playoff opener against the Granite Bay Grizzlies went without surprises: the Grizzlies and Blue Devils were neck and neck. The Blue Devils emerged as champions with a final score of 10-9.

In less than five minutes the Grizzlies took on a 3-1 lead, outrunning the Devils and keeping the ball on the offense.

The tide switched immediately as sophomore Liam Neville and senior Willie Hawkins leveled out the score, giving the pep band a little something to jam out to.

At 3-3 the second quarter began and the score alternated constantly: a one-point lead for the Grizzlies would soon be tied by a Blue Devil goal. Senior Mikie Schlosser tied the game twice during this quarter.

A short halftime pause allowed the Grizzlies to reenergize as crowd members buried themselves under sweatshirts and blankets to fight off the unexpected cold.

Granite Bay re-entered the field with a new game plan, which successfully brought them to an 8-5 lead, leaving the Blue Devils in shock but nothing extraordinary.

Nonchalantly Davis High racked up enough goals to tie the game in literally a matter of seconds. Junior Ryan Amesbury found the net, which was followed by goals from Hawkins and Schlosser.

“When we tied the game and everyone got hyped up was the most exciting part of the game,” junior Mark Bruemmer said, looking back on the game.

Forming a ring around the goal, Davis High ran a play passing from person to person until senior Kevin Klenzendorf cut into the middle and caught a perfect pass for a goal. This gave the Blue Devils a 9-8 lead.

With three minutes left, the game was paused momentarily as both teams took a knee for injured junior Kian Reno, a key player in the Blue Devil line-up.

In the blink of an eye, the game was tied again. The Grizzlies continued to fight seeing as though the title was only 2 minutes away.

But to few people’s surprise, the Blue Devils pulled out the winning goal with seconds left, and that was the end of it.

“We were able to win in the end because we got the energy up and really locked into the game. We brought the intensity. Doesn’t hurt to have good fans too,” Bruemmer said.

This clutch victory brought Davis High’s season record to 17-3.

“It was exuberating! This season has been a lot harder than the last because we have an expectation to work harder and do better than the 20-0 season last year,” senior Rudy Buhlman said.

The Blue Devils hope to add another win to their record in the second round playoff game.