Bowling Green senior Evan Brandt and junior Reece Rath scored two goals apiece as BG opened a 4-0 first quarter lead over Perrysburg in boys lacrosse at Bobcat Stadium Monday.
Perrysburg turned the tables and proceeded to go on a 10-1 run over the middle two quarters on their way to a 15-8 Northern Lakes League victory. The Yellow Jackets outshot the Bobcats, 28-10, over those two quarters.
Perrysburg, seeking their third straight NLL title, improves to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. The game was the season opener for the Bobcats.
Perrysburg senior attack Cameron Davidson led all scorers with six goals, junior midfielder Trey Haney scored three goals, and sophomore midfielder Zachary Schroeder had two goals and two assists.
Rath led the Bobcats with four goals and two assists and Brandt had two goals and an assist. The 6-foot, 195-pound Rath and the 6-2, 200-pound Brandt both cover plenty of ground at attack and midfield.
BG coach Devin Radcliff was pleased with the way his team started but wanted them to stay with it.
“We came out and had a fast start,” Radcliff said. “We talked to the boys about how the game is going to be up and down. It’s a roller coaster of emotions. You can’t ride it. You have to stay even keel.
“Obviously Perrysburg is a good ball team. They made a run in the playoffs last year, so you can’t let them get going and they did that.”
Brandt, who has narrowed his college lacrosse choices to two schools, scored first on an assist from Rath after three minutes and 13 seconds had already expired.
One minute and 18 seconds later, Rath bounced in a shot from 40 feet, assisted by senior defenseman Justin Becker. Brandt scored, assisted by Rath, to put BG up 3-0 with 5:17 remaining in the first period.
One minute and three seconds later, Rath scored unassisted, and not only had BG dominated the scoring, but they had a 11-7 shot advantage with Brandt firing five shots and his two shots on goal both found the net.
“We definitely had to block No. 10 (Brandt) off,” Perrysburg first-year coach Baily Weatherwax said. “He’s definitely one of the best players on their team. The kid has an absolute cannon.
“I told the kids they got punched in the mouth and we’ll see how they respond, and I think they responded pretty well shutting that down,” continued Weatherwax, who served as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator the past four years.
It was not just Perrysburg’s inability to shut down Brandt and Rath, the Yellow Jackets were getting shut out on offense, too.
“The first period we weren’t clicking on offense,” Davidson said. “Our defense was doing all the work and we were getting them super tired.
“Coach just called a timeout, we had a talk, and we got the boys all riled up and that was the end of that.”
It only took Perrysburg 14 seconds to get on the board in the second quarter. Immediately after Schroeder won the draw, he dished to senior defenseman Ethan Johnson, who scored.
Davidson then took over, scoring three straight goals within two minutes, including one off a steal and score, and another on a 75-foot shot that tied the game at 4-4 with 9:08 still remaining in the first half.
“He is a key player on our team,” Weatherwax said. “Our offense works through him and when he starts putting the ball down low, shots fall.”
Davidson added, “I was just trying to space out the offense. We were super close together in the first half. The second half we finally spread out, had the open looks on the inside, guys cutting through and what-not.”
Haney put the Yellow Jackets ahead, 5-4, on a quick release from a pass sent to him from behind the net with 10 seconds remaining in the half.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second half on a 5-0 run, but kept on the attack until the final whistle, adding five more goals in the fourth quarter.
For Perrysburg, Johnson and senior attack Evan Wolaver had one goal and one assist apiece and Haney and sophomore attack Jack Hammond added one goal each.
Keeping Perrysburg consistently on offense was Schroeder as the Yellow Jackets won 20 of 27 draws, 15 of those won by Schroeder. Perrysburg outshot BG, 43-32.
“No. 9, Schroder, he’s definitely the hardest worker out here in my opinion,” Davidson said. “He just grinds and grinds and continued this year and last year’s season to put on a show.”
For the Bobcats, senior Michael Kisor had a goal and an assist, senior attack A.J. Clemons scored once, and Becker had an assist.
Perrysburg sophomore goalie Nathan Ettore had 14 saves and BG senior goalie Hunter Sockman had 12.
Radcliff, who moved to head coach as Connor Rogowski moved to associate head coach, said he was pleased with his team in the fourth quarter, outshooting Perrysburg 11-8 and putting three more goals into the net.
“Our boys did a good job of settling down. In the middle of the game, obviously Perrysburg did a good job, but we made some key shots and I think we’ll be alright this year,” Radcliff said.
“There is a lot of work to do, a lot of things that we can take care of that we can fix in practice, but it’s the first game of the year. I’m happy where we are at so far and we’ve just got to go back and get to work tomorrow.”
