SYLVANIA — Less than nine minutes into the game, Bowling Green senior attack Evan Brandt already had his hat trick as the visiting Bobcats opened a 5-1 first quarter lead over Southview.
BG still led 10-8 after three quarters, but the Cougars scored eight fourth quarter goals to come from behind and defeat the Bobcats, 16-14, in a Division II first round regional tournament lacrosse game.
“We came out sleeping and thankfully we came back from behind. BG put on a good performance, but thankfully we were able to pull it out,” Southview coach Tony Hunter said.
Southview, 8-9, advances to take on undefeated Ottawa Hills (15-0), ranked seventh in the state, on Monday in a second round game.
BG, 8-10, went on to defeat Clay, 19-7, in a regular season game Friday. Brandt scored seven goals, senior midfielder Matthew Robinette scored a three-goal hat trick, and every senior short stick on the team had at least one goal.
In the tournament game, BG coach Devin Radcliff was impressed by the effort from both teams during a phyiscal contest.
“The boys came out, had a good week of practice, really focused,” Radcliff said. “They came out with a fast start, which is what we challenged them to do before the game and I was really happy with that.
“It was high intensity, and we kept the intensity high the entire game. It’s a game (that both teams) battled back and forth, and you have to give credit to Southview.
“They battled back, they could have very easily folded up and that is a credit to their coaching staff to battle back the way they did. You must give all the credit to them there. They took advantage of some opportunities that they were presented with,” Radcliff continued.
The difference in the game ultimately ended up being two Southview goals that were not scored on deliberate shots, but on bounces that found their way through a scrum just outside the crease and got past BG goalie Hunter Sockman, finding their way into the net. Both happened in the fourth quarter, one giving Southview the lead for the first time.
Brandt led all scorers with seven goals and one assist, BG junior attack Reece Rath had four goals and two assists, senior attack Ethan Helvoigt had two goals and an assist, and senior Michael Kisor scored one goal.
The Bobcats outshot the Cougars 27-14 in the first half, but Southview outshot BG 34-20 in the second half, and the Cougars ended up with a narrow 48-47 shot advantage.
However, BG had 29 shots on goal to Southview’s 20, and even though the Cougars outshot BG 18-10 in the third quarter, only two of Southview’s shots were on goal.
In the fourth quarter, Southview found their range, scoring seven of the first eight goals, taking a 15-11 lead before three goals by BG brought the Bobcats to within one, 15-14, with 1:23 remaining.
Brandt scored on a 40-footer with three players defending him, Rath found a path from behind the net, scoring from close range, and Helvoigt had a shot in transition that ricocheted off Southview junior goalie Sean Connolly and into the net.
However, off the draw, junior Owen Miller scored on a pass from sophomore midfielder Alex Berrie just 27 seconds later to give the Cougars the insurance goal they needed.
Sockman had four saves and Connolly had 16, but BG’s biggest problem was a lack of possession off the draw.
Southview won 24-of-31 face-offs, all but two taken by senior Seth Baden, who has an NCAA Division II football scholarship waiting for him at the University of Findlay.
In the fourth quarter, Baden won nine straight face-offs, and most of the time he is the one also gathering in the ensuing ground balls, finishing with 11.
“Seth is an incredible athlete, he’s an incredible human being, and is very passionate about the game,” Hunter said. “Anytime we need something he is our go-to guy.”
Brandt will soon be leaving the BG program to play collegiate lacrosse at the University of Indianapolis.
Most of Brandt’s goals Friday were scored on shots while he was double or triple-teamed, including one shot from an almost 90-degree angle that found nothing but net.
“He’s one of those guys, sometimes you just have to sit back, and you just don’t’ want to tell him too much because you just want to let his natural ability take over,” Radcliff said.
“We’ve all seen it the past two years what he can do with the ball and the stick, so tonight for sure he definitely gave it his all.”
Brandt has reached 270 career goals, including over 100 as a junior, and he did not get to play his freshman season because of Covid.
“He’s got about every record you can think of for scoring,” Radcliff said. “He’s got the state career record, he’s got the goals in a game state record, he’s got the goal in a season career record.
“It would have been incredible to see what he could have done if he had a freshman season to play. He missed his whole freshman season, so he did this on just three years.”
Brandt leads a group of a dozen seniors who Radcliff, associate head coach Connor Rogowski, and assistant coaches Joe Costic Moore and Anthony Haney say they will miss once the season ends.
“They are a great group of seniors. They are awesome to coach,” Radcliff said. “We’ve coached a lot of these boys two years in a row, two sports in a row.
“I really wanted to see them go out with a win tonight just because they are a phenomenal group of kids.”
