The Bainbridge High boys varsity lacrosse team fell, but just barely, in an 8-7 non-conference loss against Oregon’s Lincoln High Friday, April 25.

Max Wickline scored the most goals for Bainbridge, ending the night with four.

Ben LaRoche, Sal Iaria and Jack Frickleton each contributed one goal.

Spartan goalie Reynolds Yarbrough had 16 saves throughout the game.

BHS led initially and maintained the lead through the first half of the game. Then, Lincoln began to gain ground and the Spartans were unable to wrest control of the field back in time.

Wickline’s final goal, made in the last two minutes of play, nearly evened up the board. It set the stage for an exciting fourth quarter comeback scene, but the Spartans simply couldn’t get around the Lincoln team for that last needed goal.

“That’s what lacrosse is all about,” said Spartan Head Coach Cody Bludorn of the game’s tense final moments. “It’s a fast pace [game], and it comes down to a couple goals [and] a couple of possessions here and there.”

Bludorn said that the overall energy of the team was down prior to the game, and that they had attempted to mix up their offensive strategy to compensate.

“First of all we’re running with a really short bench today,” he said. “So, the kids were pretty tired so we were stressing long possessions on offense to give our defensive as well as our offensive players a rest. As the game wore on we got a little bit tired, a little bit sloppy in certain areas.

“I think they [Lincoln] made a real run and we weren’t able to respond in the end. This is a good team from Oregon, always contends for their state championships, so I think this is really something to build off of,” he said.

Bludorn said that overall he was most pleased with the continued effort by the Spartans throughout the season.

“These guys come out here even with 13 guys and they outplayed, for a few quarters at least, a team that has a pretty big bench,” he said. “Effort is there. We’re starting to see the offense come together a little bit, as far as getting possession time, taking shots and backing those shots up and working those into longer possessions to get [the opponent’s] defense tired.”

Bludorn said that defense, however, continued to be the obvious Spartan strength.

“Our defense has stepped up all year,” he said. “There are things that we can improve on going forward, but that’s why we schedule these games that don’t really count toward playoffs.”

Working through Bainbridge’s defense, Bludorn said, had been a strength of Lincoln’s from early in the second half.

“I thought they did a good job of coming up with a recipe to beat our zone,” he explained. “They figured it out a little bit, then we didn’t make the necessary adjustments in our zone defense after that. They were able to pour a few in. They have a few more dodgers than we do and that kind of helped the way the match went.”

Bainbridge remains ranked in second place in Metro District I, behind only Eastside Catholic, with a conference record of 5-1.