BAINBRIDGE – A brief sojourn into sudden death overtime proved to be exactly that for the Bainbridge High varsity boys lacrosse team: death.
After an incredible last-second goal by the Spartans, bringing the Wednesday game to a 6-6 tie, the team was unable to gain immediate ball control in overtime and found themselves quickly on the wrong end of a 7-6 score against the visiting Rebels from Columbine, Colo.
“That’s lacrosse,” Spartan Co-head Coach Cody Bludorn said after the game. “You always try to get that last possession. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to come up with the ball there after the last face off and the last person with the ball wins.”
Coming off of a disappointing game the night before, and still being very early in the season, Bludorn said it was difficult to gauge the progress of the team so far.
“They’re a young team so we’re a little inconsistent at the moment,” he said. “We had a rough game [Tuesday], so we really wanted to show up tonight and kind of put our better foot forward and I think we did that we just didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”
What was much more apparent in the team during this game than the previous defeat, Bludorn said, was the desire to win.
“I think we battled a lot harder,” he said. “That kind of showed with the restraining line, [retrieving] ground balls and just overall effort.”
Communication on the field, which Bludorn had previously noted as an area which needed additional attention, remains an issue, he said Wednesday.
“That’s hard to tell,” he said when asked if the team’s communication had improved. “I know I’m getting louder.”
The next challenge moving ahead for the Spartans will take them off of the island, and out of the state.
“We’ve got Southridge, Oregon on Saturday,” Bludorn said. “Which is part of the Northwest Invitational tournament, which these guys [the Rebels] are out here from Colorado for. It’s kind of a big showcase for teams in the Northwest so we’re going to try and have a good game on Saturday.”
The team will play at home again at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8 against Nathan Hale.
