NC boys junior varsity and varsity lacrosse played the Dalton Catamounts on Friday, March 16. Both teams made immense improvements from the first games of the season.

“The off-ball movements were great and they had a lot of great shots with most of them going in, and the goalie also had some amazing saves. There were many turnovers, which resulted in our win,” senior Wesley Grant said.

The junior varsity game ended with the Catamounts on top by a score of 6-9, but the game started off powerfully with freshman Jonah Mckouen at face off. At the beginning of the game and after each goal, the players fight for the ball—facing off—and start the play. Both Mckouen and sophomore Ryan Getz shared this important role.

Freshman Brendan Rice scored the first goal of the game and led the way through the first quarter. Freshman Cooper Korn scored during the second quarter, shortly after freshman Xavier Clark took the ball and ran it to the goal for Korn to shoot. Following the first two NC goals, Dalton managed to pass by the boys’ defense and score two points, tying the game.

After the ten minute half time, NC scored three times in the first half of the third quarter. After one goal from Dalton, the Warriors finished the quarter ahead at 5-3.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Rice took the ball and started to run to the goal, but tripped and lost the ball, which lead to Dalton scoring twice. NC only scored once more in the fourth and the game ended 6-9 in Dalton’s favor.

The players, more confident during the beginning of the game, lost energy throughout the game, but will work harder at keeping the energy up during the defensive parts of the game. During the entire game, NC’s junior varsity lacrosse players worked well together and plan to improve greatly throughout the season with more experience and game time coming their way.

Shorty after the junior varsity defeat, the varsity boys lacrosse stepped onto the field. NC varsity boys lacrosse showed more success in their game, defeating the Catamounts 13-4. With a goal in the first minute of the game, NC varsity boys played a well executed game with a glut of shots and goals.

“We started the game strong by scoring very quickly, and we maintained the fast scoring pace throughout the game,” junior Noah Mckouen said.

Senior Alan Berkoski scored a total of six goals throughout the game and proved himself as an important asset to the team. Berkoski scored almost half of the goals for the entire game and rose to the senior team leader role.

During the second quarter, junior Zach Hall fell to the ground suddenly, worrying the crowd. After coaches Almy and Price ran to assess the situation, Hall limped off the field and sat out the rest of the game. Hall twisted his knee and hopes to visit the doctor and fix the problem as soon as possible. He remained hopeful for the other players in the game as he sat out and noticed them come together at a team while they defeated the Catamounts.

“The team played together as one. We battled in the first quarter, but in the remaining quarters we gained momentum and that helped secure the win. This game was different in that we weren’t selfish with the ball handling and we recognized that we are one as a team,” Hall said.

Both NC boys lacrosse teams played exciting games with multiple goals. The players continue to prep and practice for their next game against the Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs on Wednesday, March 14.