By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Noblesville boys lacrosse team was happy to wait until Wednesday to play its season opener at Guerin Catholic.
The Millers were happier to get out of the Eagles Nest with a win. Noblesville held off Guerin Catholic 13-10 in a hard-fought game, surging ahead in the third quarter before holding off a Golden Eagles comeback in the fourth.
The game was supposed to be played last week but was switched to this week. That was a good thing, since the weather has been much nicer this week.
“Last week, it was supposed to be 30 degrees, cold, wet and pretty unpleasant,” said Millers coach Mark Milam. “Tonight it was 65, sunny, so I’m glad (Guerin Catholic) Coach (Charlie) Barry and I made the decision to switch it to this week.
The teams were tied at 2-2 after the first quarter, with Noblesville senior Zach McMichael scoring just 23 seconds into the game. The Millers went on a tear early in the second quarter, putting in four goals in four minutes. McMichael scored three of those goals.
The Golden Eagles were in control of the second half of the period, getting three goals to cut Noblesville’s lead to 7-5 by halftime. Sophomore Gavin Soucie scored twice.
The Millers had a huge third quarter, pouring in four goals during the first two-thirds of the period. Max Sala scored 27 seconds into the quarter, then McMichael took over again. He scored at the 7:38 mark, then assisted on both goals that Logan White scored.
Noblesville led 11-5, but a Guerin Catholic goal at the 2:17 mark from Luke Shrift brought the Golden Eagles within 11-6 going into the fourth quarter. GC then came roaring back, putting in four consecutive goals to cut the Millers’ lead to 11-10 with 3:54 to go. Soucie scored two goals during Guerin Catholic’s run.
But the Millers held on by getting two goals during the final three minutes. Brighton Kojetin scored with 2:58 left, then Hayden McCaslin completed the scoring with a goal at the 1:29 mark.
“We got 14 seniors,” said Milam. “This was the way to split the series for them. So more than happy and nothing but up from here. Let’s keep on working.”
McMichael finished the game with five goals and two assists. Junior Charlie Boe had three goals and two assists; Boe got his first score with 16 seconds left in the first quarter and added two more in the second period.
On defense, senior Monty Atkins led the ground balls with seven, followed by sophomore Dylan Knaga with five. Junior Gage Bass collected four ground balls.
Soucie totaled four goals for the Golden Eagles, with Shrift scoring twice. Senior Dominic Elliott, junior Vincent Elliott, senior John Stordy and senior J.B. Ford all had one goal. Dominic Elliott and Ford both collected four ground balls.
“We told the boys that this is one big battle, and they got to win the small fights,” said Barry. “In the fourth quarter, they fought really well. They won those small fights. But there were some other fights along the rest of the game that they didn’t win and that put us in this position. So you got to win the small fights throughout the entire battle, the entire time.”
The Golden Eagles are 1-2 for the season. Guerin Catholic began play last weekend with a 15-12 loss to Evansville Memorial, the Class 1A defending state champions. The Golden Eagles then easily beat Evansville North for their first win of the season.
Noblesville plays its first home game of the season Friday, taking on Fishers at 8 p.m. Guerin Catholic hosts South Bend St. Joseph at 1 p.m. Saturday for its next game.
Be the first to comment on "Boys lacrosse: Millers hold off GC comeback to win opener"