RUHS Boys Lax Goes 2-1
By Dave Cooch

The Ghosts Boys Lacrosse Team has improved its record to 3-3, and are playing a much improved game despite several key injuries. These injuries include senior defender Beau Handy and sophomore midfielder Matt Simpson.

The U-32 Game

Randolph traveled to Montpelier on May first to take on the U-32 Raiders. After conceding the first goal early, Randolph dominated the first and most of the second quarter. They put in six un-answered goals, three coming from senior attack man David Whitlock, two from Codi Tabor, and one from Alex Green. At that point, the Ghosts were dominating possession, and were winning every face-off.

However after an injury to Simpson, who took the face-offs, mid-way through the second, Randolph was not the same team. They let in two unfortunate goals before the half, and were only up 6-3 at the break.

In the second half Randolph allowed U-32 to get right back into the game. They were unable to clear the ball and spent a large majority of the time playing defense. Good work from Sam Lyons and the rest of the defense allowed Randolph to maintain the lead until late in the fourth quarter, when U-32 tied it at 7 apiece.

On their next possession U-32 went up 8-7 with only a minute and half remaining in the game. Randolph had an answer fortunately, and 11 seconds later Alex Green got the ball from the face off, dodged several defenders, and put in a low-angle shot to tie it at 8-all. Regular time ended locked up, and the teams went into overtime.

In overtime Randolph survived an initial man down, with David Cooch coming up with the save. On the other end, Randolph possessed the ball before swinging it to Tabor, who faked the shot, stepped in, and put the game away with the sudden death goal, 9-8. Tabor, Green, and Whitlock all recorded hat tricks, and Cooch finished with 18 saves.

The Lamoille Game

Randolph faced the talented Lamoille team, who led Division II, on Saturday the third. The game was tight all the way through, and after letting in an early goal, Randolph’s defense buckled down. It was the offense that was having problems, as they could not penetrate Lamoille’s athletic back line.

This was the case for the entire first half, with Randolph only conceding three goals, but scoring only two at the same time. The third quarter saw the score doubled for each respective side, and going into the fourth quarter Randolph was down a mere two goals, 6-4. Randolph could sense the upset.

In the final quarter Randolph struck first, coming within one point. The Ghosts ran out of steam however, and suffered a defense breakdown to tarnish what had been an excellent defensive showing before. Lamoille put in four consecutive goals in the fourth to secure the 10-5 victory.

The game finished with Tabor netting twice, Matt Dezan once, and Whitlock twice. Cooch finished with 20 saves.

The Montpelier Game

Randolph traveled to Montpelier Tuesday to play the Solons, and vastly underestimated its opponent.

While dominating offensive possession, Randolph looked static on offense, with limited ball movement and a lack of creativity. Shots would not fall on target, and those that did were often scooped up by the Montpelier goalie. Randolph was still able to outscore their opponent 5-1 by the half.

The second half featured more of the same from Randolph, but with reduced scoring. Each quarter featured a goal for each side, and the match ended with Randolph winning 3-7, a score the team deserved, but knew was sub-par. Sophomore Green notched four more goals to his tally, as well as two from Tabor and one from Whitlock.

Randolph’s record has improved to 3-3, and the Ghosts hope to improve upon that with another match against Montpelier, this time home, at 4:30 May 8. The Ghosts play away at Rice on Saturday and home to U-32 the following Tuesday, May 13, 4:30 p.m.

Come and support the Ghosts athletics!

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