Blue Devils fall short to Vista Del Lago

PHOTO: Jackson Chelius moves the ball down the field.

By Harald Tollerup

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

The Blue Devils Men’s Lacrosse team fell to Vista Del Lago, 22-12, Friday night at Ron & Mary Brown Stadium.

Davis, who previously had lost to the Eagles 20-2, started the game out hot. Two quick ones from sophomore Jonah Spang halfway into the first gave the lead to the Blue Devils.

Then Vista del Lago, now 15-3, returned the favor and ended the quarter with three quick goals. The goals all came within 42 seconds of game time.

“When they are in space they will punish us for it,” Devil head coach Nick Juri said. 

An 8-3 second quarter run for the Eagles put the game out of reach.

Not if Davis had anything to say about it.

When the third began Davis was invigorated with new energy. “We come right out of half time, which we haven’t really done all year. We went on a run as well and made it a game,” Juri said.

Senior Mason Bennet led the charge in the third. He scored two quick goals, after the opening volley was scored by junior Leno Kim. Bennetts second goal was assisted by junior Jackson Chelius.

“We were attacking the goal with the ball and he (Bennet) was putting himself in a dangerous position and we were capitalizing. We were finding him when he was coming open and he was able to put the ball in the back of the net,” Juri said.

Senior Sawyer Schoen got the team fired up defensively, making a save from point blank range and allowing Davis to get back on offense where Bennet was still in the groove. 

Following up his two goals, Bennet dished out an assist to Spang who helped the Devils to get within five of Vista.

The Vista attack was once again stopped by Schoen who made a save on the front door step, but not before the Eagles tallied two more goals. 

“(In) transition we have to be better at recognizing and picking up the ball because they really want to attack us when we are not set. We have to be faster to recognize where that pressure is coming from,” Juri said. 

The Eagles continued their run, winning the majority of the faceoffs and controlling possession. That possession allowed them to go on a five goal run where Davis didn’t touch the ball for 2 minutes of the third quarter. 

To start the 4th and end the Eagles’ run Spang stepped up once again. His goal was followed by another tally by Chelius. Vista would end the game scoring three more goals to finish with a final score of 22-12. 

Davis is seeded 6th going into the section playoffs. They will face Oakridge on Tuesday at 7:30 PM on the road.