By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The Noblesville boys lacrosse team is three games into its season, and the Millers won all three of those games in different ways.
Noblesville had to come from behind to get its third victory but prevailed 12-8 at Fishers on Friday night. Both teams were playing with intensity, and the Tigers got the early advantage by scoring three goals during the first six minutes.
Sullivan Hintz scored the first goal, then Antonio Vega put the ball in the net a couple minutes later. Hintz struck again with a third goal, and Fishers had a 3-0 lead.
The Millers rebounded to score the next three goals. Zach McMichael got Noblesville on the board at the 6:20 mark, followed by scores from Hayden McCaslin and Charlie Boe. As a result, the first quarter finished in a 3-3 tie.
“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” said Millers coach Mark Milam. “And so just like Mike Tyson said, ‘You can have a plan until someone punches you in the mouth.’ So, our boys had to regroup, figure some stuff out, and it looks like we did by the end of the game.”
The next two quarters were tight. Fishers managed to hold a 6-5 lead at halftime. The Tigers took the lead three different times in the period, although Noblesville scored after Fishers’ first two goals of the quarter – one from Vega and one from Hintz, who scored again with 3:59 left and that was enough to get the Tigers in front.
Hintz quickly got his fifth goal of the game in the third quarter and Fishers led 7-5. The Millers came back to a 7-7 tie with scores from McMichael and McCaslin, but Liam Foley put in a goal with 3:41 left in the period to get Fishers up by one going into the fourth.
Noblesville’s defense took over in the final period, as the Millers outscored the Tigers 5-0. Boe tied the game two minutes into the quarter, then Logan White made two consecutive goals to get Noblesville in front to stay.
McMichael and White both finished with three goals. McCaslin and Boe each scored two, with Harrison Barnett and Gage Bass also scoring once for the Millers. Noblesville was sensational on ground balls: Monty Atkins collected 10, Charlie Zink had seven, McMichael picked up six and Brighton Kojetin had five. Atkins had three caused turnovers. Thomas McAvoy made six saves.
After Mintz’s five goals, Vega scored two and Foley had one. Aiden Murnan and Travis Crane each picked up four ground balls, as did Foley. Alex May had 21 saves.
Despite the loss, Fishers coach Joe Medel called the game a “step in the right direction.
“Last year, these guys blew us out pretty good,” said Medel. “We had the lead the whole game until the end there.”
Medel said that it’s “good to see the growth within the program. Obviously, we have a lot of work that we need to keep doing.”
Noblesville’s next game is Wednesday at Park Tudor. The Tigers are 1-3 and host Zionsville on Tuesday.