Santa Fe Boys Lacrosse Falls to Buchholz

The Buchholz Bobcats defeated the Santa Fe Raiders in Tuesday night’s high school boy’s lacrosse match up. The Bobcats’ victory snapped their four game losing streak.

Competitive First Quarter

As soon as the game started, the Raiders wasted no time finding the back of the net. Santa Fe’s Anthony Rollins nailed a shot in the bottom left corner of the goal one minute into the game. 

Following the Raiders’ first goal, the Bobcats’ defense adjusted and slowed down Santa Fe’s offense. Buchholz responded with three unanswered goals from Caleb Ransom, Matt Bala and Spencer Taylor in a span of less than three minutes. 

With 3:40 left in the first quarter, Rollins tallied another goal for the Raiders. Buchholz entered the second quarter with a 3-2 lead.

Bobcats Dominate

The Raiders could not find a way to stop the Bobcats from scoring in the second quarter. Less than a minute into the second quarter, Bala buried a shot in the bottom right corner of the goal. Immediately following Bala’s goal, Buchholz’s John Haugh won a face-off and scored to put the Bobcats up 5-2.

John Haugh stings top right corner for another Bobcat goal

10:55 left in Q2
Santa Fe: 2
Buchholz: 5@ESPNGainesville @GNVPreps @ThePrepZone@BuchholzLax

— Shailey Klein (@shaileyklein) March 29, 2022

The scoring didn’t stop there, as Bala tallied a hat trick and Denver Trippsensee posted a goal of his own. The Bobcats closed the first half with four unanswered goals and a 7-2 lead.

Raiders’ Lockdown Defense

At halftime, Santa Fe coach Joey Mandese told his team they needed to get back to the way they were playing at the beginning of the game. The team clearly got the message as they shut down the Bobcats for the first seven minutes of the second half. In addition to their stellar defense, the Raiders were also able to consistently maintain possession of the ball.

Bala tallies another goal after a slow start to the second half

4:34 left in Q3
Santa Fe: 2
Buchholz: 8@ESPNGainesville @GNVPreps @ThePrepZone@BuchholzLax

— Shailey Klein (@shaileyklein) March 30, 2022

With 4:34 left in the third quarter, Buchholz’s Bala ended the scoring drought. Two Buchholz goals shortly followed from Aaron Lower and Ransom to give the Bobcats a 10-2 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Raiders Last Hope

Rollins kept the Raiders’ hopes alive with a quick goal to open the fourth quarter. Although down seven scores, the Raiders kept fighting until the end. Rollins posted another goal, followed by a score from Caleb Hart. 

However, the Raiders’ three goals in the fourth quarter wouldn’t be enough to close the scoring gap. The Bobcats walked away with a 12-5 victory.

Focusing on Fundamentals

Coach Mandese after the match discussed what the focus was for his team going into the match.