November 4 | Palo Alto
Your Team NorCal Boys High School Fall Ball Stealth prevailed to bring in the 2018 Championship at the Palo Alto High School Lacrosse Field in a climactic season capping game on Sunday night.
The opening game of the night under perfect weather conditions pitted the Riptide against the Rattlers to decide 3rd and 4th place. Niles Lo (G4 A1) struck first with impeccable faceoff performance and a goal, putting the Riptide up early and setting off a scoring rampage from the Riptide despite signs of nerves and dropsies as the players worked themselves through the magnitude of the game. Christopher Wilk (G6 A1) delivered a marquee showing with Tripp Crissman (G2 A1), Chase Wilson (G1), Harrison Bond (A1), and Austin Yoder (A1) contributing to the Riptide scoring. Bond also played second half goalie with Martin Johnson net-minding the first as Riptide defenders Nick Gore, Martin Gray, Steven Head, and Nick Moore-Davis shored up the defensive wall.
Rattlers led by Casey Kline (G3), Mark Harvey (G1), and Andy Sulyma (A1) played with great poise and emotion, with defenders Ryan Hood, Zach Moses, and Sam Freeman putting in a valiant effort in front of goalie Reilly Smith. While the Rattlers always seemed ready to strike and climb back in at any moment, showing how they were ranked number 1 for so much of the season, the weight of the Riptide scoring became overwhelming and the time ticked down to a final score of Rattlers 4, Riptide 13, and the Riptide finished in 3rd place overall in the final Fall Ball 2018 standings.
Then the Championship game, which lived up to the fanfare and anticipation. It was the Stealth versus the Machine and from the start the players showed it could be anybody’s game. Danny Beglin (G2 A2) of the Machine scored the first goal of the game, answered nearly immediately by the Stealth’s Aidan Gans (G3 A1), and it was on. The Machine went up by 2 on goals from Jack Galbrath (G2) and another from Beglin assisted by Andy Purpura (G1 A2), but the Stealth answered as Peter Christians (G3 A2) assisted Quintin Dwight (G2 A1) and a nifty goal from Will Thomas (G1) to tie the game 3-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The defensive units made their presence known as Machine goalies Jimmi Angelini (1st half) and Jamison Blackwell (2nd Half) and defenders Matthew Boca, Steven Head, Spencer Garivia, and Liam Carroll dialed the scoring back, and Stealth goalie Tyler Furrier with defenders Henry Queen, Dean Donat, and Brian Quinn answered in kind. The game entered a gridlocked phase of intense matchups until Beglin returned the favor to Purpura with an assist for a goal, who then shared more of the goodness with an assist to Elliot Wilk (G1 A1) for the Machine. Stealth stalwart Gans got the last word in before the halftime buzzer with an unassisted goal and we went into halftime with a 5-4 score, Machine in the lead.
The second half started with a noticeable shift in momentum as the Stealth applied some adjusted tactics that broke open the heavy guns of Peter Christians, Aidan Gans, and Quintin Dwight. 2 goals from Christians, 1 from Gans, another from Christians assisted by Gans, and then a goal from Dwight assisted by Christians, and it was the Stealth with 5 goals unanswered until Andrew Showalter (G1) scored for the Machine on an assist from Beglin. A 9-6 Stealth lead going into the fourth quarter looked extremely precarious as the Machine kept the pressure on but Tyler Furrier made some fantastic stops to hold them off. Somehow, the intensity was actually going UP to an even higher level of competion and desire..
After a few stone cold saves by Jamison Blackwell, Macguire Ferrell (G1) put another in for the Stealth, but was answered promptly by Galbraith assisted by Wilk. The Machine were truly still in it with the final few minutes to go, showing impartial observers and their devoted acrosse fans alike that they were there for a championship. The action reached a crescendo when Evan Wong (G1) put in a coup-de-grace goal assisted by Dwight, and the clock wound down to seal the win, 11-7, and the Championship for the Stealth.
Congratulations to the Stealth and to all the Team NorCal 2018 Boys High School Fall Ball players who made this season so fantastic. It was a series of unexpected twists and turns and standings unsettled until the final moments, in true Honor Of The Game.
And there is more, as next week the season culminates in the All-Star Game. Pitting the Iroquois versus the Seneca, 2018 season All-Stars will square off for a full regulation contest and celebration of lacrosse, athleticism, and the traditions of outstanding competition and sportsmanship that we all curate and contribute to when we step on the field.
In the spirit! We’ll see you at 5pm at the Palo Alto High School Lacrosse Field on Sunday November 11 for the All-Star Faceoff.