Losing streak continues, but overall play is improving

The SFC varsity men’s lacrosse team went crosstown to Ed Burke Stadium on Friday, April 14 to take on the top-ranked Torrey Pines Falcons. Following a string of tough losses, our Eagles went in determined to make it a challenging game for the Falcons and to demonstrate their ability to compete with the best teams in San Diego. 

Following a moving military and first responder appreciation ceremony before the game, both teams got down to business and off to a hard and fast start to set the tone early and it continued this way throughout the entire game. At the end of the night, despite the lopsided score on the scoreboard, our boys played hard and didn’t give up until the final horn. We may have lost 9-19, but the entire team played much better than they had in several of their previous losses. Every boy on the field played their heart out - every ground ball was fought for, team communication was much better, passing and catching were improved, and we held our composure for most of the evening. Senior captain Brett Koopman (LSM) was all over both ends of the field and led the team in ground balls and points. The scoring was shared amongst the team, and several were scored following fast-paced ball movement that we hadn’t seen in a while.  

Dylan Kelleher (So, FOGO) was up against one of San Diego’s best face-off players, yet he won the majority he took. George Adams (So, goalie) had some stellar saves in goal including a memorable dive which impressed both sides of the field. The team’s teamwork and high intensity were in positive contrast to previous games however, the team committed too many penalties including 8 man-up opportunities for TP, which they converted 5 times for goals. Additionally, while we had 7 of our own man-up opportunities, we could not convert them to goals except for one time. 

It’s been a long hard month with some challenging games and tough moments, but overall, our Eagles should feel proud of their work against the Falcons and hopefully will learn from and build upon these games going into the last few weeks of the regular season. Let’s go Eagles!