The men of the Northern Alliance Football Club could only stand helplessly and watch shot after shot hit the back of the net, despite the best efforts of the keeper. Talk of strategy, defense, and attack ensued, and questions arose about how much longer the match would last. But in the end the official blew his whistle, and the Grant HS boys lacrosse team defeated Rex Putnam 13-4.
Wait, what?
What a welcome to GPSD Divison 4 there was in store for the boys in blue (as the team wore their secondary Cascadia kit for the derby match), on a cold, windy, and rainy April night. The team arrived early to the Delta Park Sports Complex for the match, scheduled for 6:45 start time on Field 3, but were met with a rather big surprise: Field 3 was set up and marked for rugby. NAFC’s opponents North End United were also confused by this, and after nearly an hour of communication with the league, the match was moved to Delta Park’s Strasser Field, where play would begin after the conclusion of the lacrosse match.
Once the field was cleared of lacrosse equipment, the match began (about 50 minutes late). Playing only 35 minute halves, North End United opened the match on a tenth minute goal tipped in on a cross past NAFC keeper Chris Powell by Fernando “Nando” Machicado. Not long afterward a yellow card was issued to NEU for a cleat to the knee of NAFC defender Sean Janson.
In the fifteenth minute, a goal being attributed to Nando (but appeared to be an own goal) tallied putting the home team up 2-nil. NAFC Striker Daren Nies would pick up a Caution around the 20th minute for impeding the NEU keeper’s ability to clear the ball. In the 25th minute, NEU would find the net once more, this time by Remington Evert. The eventual final goal seemed to galvanize NAFC, and the defense gave up very few chances throughout the rest of the match.
Partway through the second half, NAFC made a change in the net, bringing on David Xochihua for Chris, who would later return to the match for a stint in the midfield. NAFC played much more aggressively in the second half, keeping possession in NEU’s half of the pitch for most of the final 35. The defense held throughout the second half, and David made a good save on a shot from the top of the box and dispossessed Nando in the 6 yard box while trying to go for the hat trick.
Big thanks to our official, who stayed on well past his scheduled time in order to allow us to play, as well as handling another scheduling issue with another lacrosse team that was scheduled on the Strasser pitch shortly after our match kicked off.
Saves:
Chris Powell – 5
David Xochihua – 1
Discipline:
Yellow: Daren Nies (1)
Man of the Match (via team vote):
Bradley York
