By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Fluco boys lacrosse team under Coach Don Wyant got off to a strong start in its home opener, hosting the Mechanicsville Mustangs on March 11. The first goal of the game came with 8:25 left in the quarter. It was scored from in close by attacker Cooper Tapscott. Two more goals late in the quarter gave the Flucos a 3-0 lead. Both goals were scored by midfielder Cole Weisenburger, the first on a shot from point blank range, and the second on a hard long shot. The goals came with 2:05 and 0:56 left in the quarter.
The Mustangs were undeterred. They found their way in the second quarter and passed well and shot well. They scored five goals in the quarter to none for the Flucos. So, the Flucos trailed 5-3 at the half. Two of the Mustang’s goals came from point blank range and the final goal came on a break-away with only 18 seconds remaining.
The third quarter started with a nice save by Fluco goalie Colton Ball, but the first goal of the quarter was scored by the Mustangs with 8:43 remaining. The Flucos responded quickly with Conner Jeffries scoring at 7:52 to make the score 6-4. Unfortunately, the next two goals were scored by Mechanicsville on a break-away and a point blank shot. The Flucos trailed 8-4 as the third quarter clock wound down. However, with 11 seconds on the clock Jefferies made an amazing play. The Mustangs goalie was making a clearing pass out to a teammate to end the quarter. Jeffries cut in and stole the pass virtually off of the goalie’s stick and dropped the ball into the empty net behind the goalie.
With 11:42 left Jeffries scored his third goal of the second half from right in front of the goal on a nice pass from behind the net. The Flucos battled hard for the rest of the fourth quarter but scoring chances were few. With 2:02 remaining the Mustangs scored their ninth goal to reopen a three-goal lead and put the game away.
After the game, Coach Wyant noted that his team had played well for an opener, but had made some mistakes to allow Mustang goals. He pointed out that his offense had established some good statistics, with Weisenburger and Jeffries both having 11 shots. Defender Henry Jeffries led the team in ground balls scooped up with 7. Assists were recorded by Andrew Williams, Joseph Jones and Maddox Beaulieu. Wyant is very pleased to report that 44 students came out for boys lacrosse this season, allowing the Flucos to field a JV team for the first time.
The boys lacrosse team hosted Patrick Henry on March 15 and Monticello High on March 22, and will host Charlottesville on March 26, opening the season with four home games. On April 12, after the break, they will travel to Orange County and on April 16 they will travel to
Fork Union Military Academy.
