One way to look at a season-opening large loss is to have hope that it can only get better from here. As the powerhouse team, Torrey Pines defeated Coronado 20-4 in the Islanders first lacrosse game of the season on Saturday, March 4.
As the game began, there was a lot to read into the way both teams were playing. Coronado seemed to be on their heels, while Torrey Pines was up on their toes driving them back. The aggression and speed shown by Torrey Pines seemed to take the Islanders by surprise. Torrey scored four goals before the Islanders could get one.
Coming to the rescue and getting the Islanders on the scoreboard was Landon Sutherland. A unit of a lacrosse player, but fast. He used that speed to stride past the defenders, and used his strength to power up a shot that would bounce directly by the goalie, sinking the first goal of the night for the Islanders.
Unfortunately that one goal by Landon would not have enough spark to give the Islanders more motivation, as Torrey Pines went on to score countless more times before half, and the Islanders had no answer.
Coming out of the halftime break, the main concern for the Islanders was to contain the ball. The longer they could keep the ball out of Torrey Pines’ possession, the less opportunity they had to score. Along with that, Luca Salata was a tank of a player, he was putting pressure on the offense the entire time Torrey Pines had the ball in his area. Pushing, shoving, and making guys fall off balance was the name of his game.
Unfortunately, Torrey Pines still scored many more goals, and at this point in the game it could be counted as a loss already. However, even while down by so many points, Maximus Kieffer shot a beautiful ball when given the space and sunk it right in the net, adding one more point to the board.
As the game was coming closer to the end, the Islanders were still not giving up. One player in particular stepped up at the end and scored two goals. Michael Bannon used his speed, agility, stick work, and accuracy to score twice.
The buzzer on the clock rang, and the game concluded with the Islanders losing by a score of 20-4, giving them a 0-1 start to the season.
The next home game for the Islander boys lacrosse team is Wednesday, March 8th, at 7pm. They will be playing against Granite Hills.
