On Tuesday night the Boiling Springs lacrosse team used a 6-0 first half run to defeat Riverside 12-9 and picked up their first win of the 2020 season in front of their home crowd on the opening night of the state's lacrosse season.
"I'm so proud of these guys because they worked hard throughout the summer and fall and a I think a lot of their work is coming to fruition," said Bulldogs head lacrosse coach Justin Mills. "It's a young group and I couldn't be happier for us to start the season with a win." A victory looked like it may be tough for the Bulldogs early as they fell behind 1-0 in the first minute of the game and were down 2-0 just a few minutes later. At the six and a half minute mark the Bulldogs picked up their first goal of the season when Connor Bates found the back of the net to cut the Warriors lead in half. That goal started a 3-0 run over the next thirty-eight seconds that not only brought the Bulldogs into a tie but allowed them to take a 3-2 lead. The tying goal was scored by Riley Alfonso before Bates took a shot from the right side just seven seconds after Alfonso's goal to give the Bulldogs the lead. With just under two minutes left in the quarter Alfonso scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Lucas Olson to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead but they added to that lead just a minute later when Brock Davis found the back of the net giving Boiling Springs a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Boiling Springs extended their run to 6-0 just under a minute into the second quarter when Mathias Oslund put the Bulldogs lead at 6-2 over Riverside. The Bulldogs run was ended when the Warriors were able to score with just under eight minutes to go in the quarter but the Bulldogs Oslund got the goal back with just over five minutes to go in the quarter to give Boiling Springs a 7-3 halftime lead. The 6-0 run for the Bulldogs was key in giving Boiling Springs an advantage that they would need going into the second half. "This team has never been battle tested like they were there early and I told them this was a good team we were playing and it was going to take four quarters of effort to win it," said Mills. "Our goal coming out of the locker room was to win the first quarter and even though we got down 2-0 early we battled back. It was a great win but the way the kids battled back makes it an even better win." Alfonso picked up his third goal of the game for Boiling Springs just three minutes into the second half giving the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead. After the Bulldogs goal the Warriors went on a 3-0 run of their own from just under nine minutes in the third quarter to just over the seven minute mark to cut the Boiling Springs lead to 8-6. Boiling Springs responded with two back-to-back goals from Micah Oslund and Eli Byrd to push the Bulldogs lead to 10-6 and despite a late Riverside goal held a 10-7 lead at the end of the third quarter. Just as the clock passed the eight minute mark in the fourth quarter Riverside was able to score a goal to get within two of the Bulldogs at 10-8 but just two minutes later Luke Caldevene made a break up the middle of the field bouncing a shot pass the Warriors goalie putting the Bulldogs lead back to three at 11-8 with just over five minutes left in the game. When the clock went under four minutes Riverside was able to score again to put the Boiling Springs lead at two but that goal was neutralized fourteen seconds later when Boiling Springs' Brock Davis stole a Riverside pass just outside the Warriors goal and found the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 12-9 lead that they were able to hold until the final buzzer sounded. Despite some runs in the second half by the Warriors the Bulldogs were able to hang on for the win something that Coach Mills said he was proud to see of from his team. "I told the guys in the locker room that Riverside would go on a run and they went on that three goal run," said Mills. "Our seniors stepped up on defense. Eli Byrd and Micah Oslund stepped up as they possessed the ball and we got shots and that's all you can ask of from the team." Riley Alfonso led the Bulldogs with three goals while Lucas Olson led the Bulldogs with three assists. The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday night as they travel to Spartanburg before returning home next Wednesday for a matchup against Dorman. Comments are closed.
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