The big names in the league are feeling the pain when they step to the Spartans this season.
First, the Bainbridge High varsity boys lacrosse team sunk O’Dea’s Irish 9-8. Then, on Tuesday, March 27, they clipped the Eastside Catholic Crusaders 10-5 at home.
It was a big win for the island team, placing them toward the top of the heap as they get set to enter the meaty middle of their season schedule, and it also upped the Spartans’ conference record to a flawless 3-0 (6-3 overall).
“That was huge,” Assistant Coach Jacob Hayashi said Tuesday. “We haven’t beat them in many a year.”
Against the Crusaders, the Spartans scored first, with about eight minutes left in the first quarter. They put up another point about a minute later and led 4-1 by the start of the second.
Then, the Crusaders almost immediately chipped in a second goal, to which the Spartans responded with a fresh one of their own. And then another. Thus things sat 6-2 Bainbridge by the end of the half.
In the third, both teams notched one more goal (7-3), before a bit of late-game scoring set the final result.
“It’s encouraging, for sure,” Hayashi said of the team’s performance so far. “It’s a big deal. The boys are working hard and it’s showing that things are starting to click.
“We got a lot of things to work on still,” he added. “Just kind of little things. It think the effort’s there, it’s just kind of fine-turning other things.”
Hayashi gave several notable nods after Tuesday’s win, saying senior co-captain and goalie Charlie Shrout and junior points machine Merritt McMahon were having especially good seasons thus far.
“[Charlie’s] a great kid,” Hayashi said. “I think he’s been with us since his freshman year. He’s starting goalie, he’s been kind of our goalie forever. He does a great job leading the team. He’s a solid guy.”
McMahon, meanwhile, was as laid back as his scoring record was aggressive, the coach said.
“He’s kind of a mellow kid,” Hayashi said. “He seems like he’d be an intense guy, but he’s fairly mellow and just works hard. He’s a good player.”
The concern among the coaching staff, led by returning Head Coach Jack Visco, is now primarily technical refinement, Hayashi said.
“We push a lot of taking care of the ball and just not making mistakes by turning it over,” he said. “Just trying to play smart … not force things and try to play our game.
“We don’t want to keep throwing the ball away and then our defense is playing the whole time and then they get tired and the other team starts scoring,” he added. “As the offense, we need to help the defense out by giving them breaks by controlling the ball a little bit.”
The Spartans return home to host O’Dea for a rematch at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, and then hit the road for a series of away matches before eventually returning to home turf again at 7 p.m. Friday, April 27 to host Seattle Prep.
