Boys’ lacrosse earns first home playoff game

Sophomore Andrew Donovan takes control of the ball after taking it from Lovett.

Cali Gaynor, Staff Writer

It’s been a season for the history books for boys lacrosse team, ending the regular season with a 12-5 overall record and finishing as the No. 2 seed from Region 4-AAAAA. “I’m not surprised with this year’s success because of the team we have, but we are truly honored to be second in the region,” senior midfielder Spencer Hall said.

The team played its first home playoff game in school history against Decatur in a rematch from earlier in the season. In a tightly contested game earlier in the season, the Panthers won 9-8.

After losing their first game of the season in a game played in Alabama, the team went on a seven-game winning streak. During this burst, they played against a school the players remember well — Marist High, a private school in Atlanta. Two years ago the boys played Marist who won the game with a last-second goal as the buzzer sounded.  The team remembered that loss as they delivered an overtime victory to continue their win streak.

“We were devastated when we lost [two years ago],” senior midfielder Kyle Merrit said. “It was good momentum for us.”

In the midst of their winning streak the boys played in the Inside the Perimeter Tournament. The IPT is a four-team playoff  at Decatur High School. Head coach Jeff Schmidlkofer was contacted by the head coach of Decatur High, Wes Hatfield, to compete in the tournament. The four teams competing were North Atlanta, Decatur, Riverwood, and Starr’s Mill.

In the first round of the tournament, two teams were randomly selected to compete, and the winner of those games played each other for the title. North Atlanta played Decatur and the Panthers played Riverwood.

Starr’s Mill beat Riverwood, 11-5,  and Decatur beat North Atlanta to set up the final match.  After a nail-biting game, the Panthers prevailed 9-8, clinching the tournament title.

“Starr’s Mill has never won a tournament before,” Schmidlkofer said “This is the first one that we’ve ever won.”

The start of the season was full of ups and downs, but the boys looked forward to playing some of their biggest rivals. Lovett has always been one of the trophy teams in the region, finishing first every year since entering the region in 2007. The boys lost that game 19-4.

“We stayed in zone defense,” Schmidlkofer said. “There were lots of unforced errors and lots of turnovers. Lovett is one of the best teams in the state.”

Soon after, they played McIntosh. The boys were down 8-2 in the early stages, but after a rally they tied it at 9-9 with 30 seconds left. McIntosh scored to win the game. After losing to both teams, the Panthers were forced to look at what they needed to change to start winning the important  games.

“Those two were really tough losses,” Hall said. “We fought hard to the end in both of those and we proved that we can compete with anyone in our region against McIntosh.”

The next big region came as the Panthers played Woodward Academy. After winning this game 11-6, the Panthers clinched the second seed in the region. If Woodward had scored seven or more goals, the Panthers would have entered the playoffs as the third seed because of tiebreaking rules.

“That was a huge win,” junior attacker Brayden Jenks said. “Our defense really came through for us.”   The Panthers hope to build on their four-game winning streak as they enter the playoffs.

High scorers on the season  included sophomore attackman Jenks, Hall, and sophomore Evan Torris.  The three combined for 37 percent of the team’s goals in the regular season. Hall scored 34, Torris, 32, and  Jenks, 31.

Team chemistry is an important factor in every sport, and the boys have mastered this chemistry by playing together.  “I don’t think anyone cares about who scores the goals,” Jenks said. “All that matters is we want to have more than the other team. This year the team is closer both on and off the field,” Jenks said.