ZEELAND — The Reeths-Puffer boys lacrosse team didn’t get back in the win column Thursday night, but it did show signs of progress in a competitive loss to a good Zeeland squad.
Reeths-Puffer took an early lead and battled throughout but fell 14-8 on the road.
While a loss is a loss, R-P Coach Jake Kovalcik was pleased with his team's overall performance, particularly coming on the heels of an ugly defeat against Spring Lake earlier this week.
“The first half and even halfway through that third quarter, we played the best lacrosse we’ve played all year,” Kovalcik said. “It was just such an exciting game for us. We’ve seen a different side of our players that we haven’t seen all year.
“That was super exciting to see, especially early in the season, being able to see what more potential we have. I don’t think we’ve hit our peak yet.”
R-P's Seth Parker works his way around a Zeeland defender. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets, now 2-3 on the season, had success early in the game winning face-offs and attacking for quick goals. Reeths-Puffer scored twice in the opening minute, and within the first minute of both the second and third quarters, as well.
“Against Spring Lake in our last game, we missed some of those early opportunities and tonight we capitalized on those,” Kovalcik said. “Putting in those early goals really builds the momentum for us, that helped us out a lot.
“Luke Callender is our face-off guy. At the X, that’s where a lot of your possessions are at, having a good face-off guy helps that tremendously. He did a fantastic job for us tonight.”
Kovalcik was also pleased with his team’s defensive effort. Zeeland, which is a co-op of Zeeland East and Zeeland West, came in averaging more than 20 goals per game. The Rockets held them to 14 and goalie Gavin Wright made several nice saves in the net.
R-P's Connor Stawski and Bruce Latsch celebrate a goal. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets started the scoring early as Connor Stawski found the net just 29 seconds into the game off an assist from Kyle Huff. Reeths-Puffer added another goal 27 seconds later, this one from Carson Cooper, to lead 2-0 just 59 seconds into the contest.
After a Zeeland goal, Bruce Latsch scored off an assist from Stawski to put R-P up 3-1 with 6:32 left in the first quarter. The Rockets led 3-2 at the end of the frame.
Latsch started the scoring in the second quarter with a goal 31 seconds in to put R-P up 4-2. Zeeland scored the game’s next five goals to take a 7-4 lead.
Reeths-Puffer drew closer with goals from Kyler Brainard, assisted by Stawski, and Cooper, assisted by Brainard. After another Zeeland goal, Latsch closed the first half with his third goal with 30 seconds left, assisted by Huff. Zeeland led 8-7 at halftime.
R-P's Bruce Latsch looks for a pass. Photo/Tyler Lirones
The Rockets showed their quick strike ability again in the third quarter, with Cooper scoring 28 seconds into the second half to tie the score at 8-8. Unfortunately, that would be the Rockets’ last goal.
Zeeland retook the lead for good with 6:45 to play in the third quarter. Reeths-Puffer appeared to tie the game shortly after, but an offside penalty wiped out the goal. Zeeland scored twice in the following 90 seconds to extend the lead to 11-8.
“That’s how big it shifts in lacrosse,” Kovalcik said. “Something little like that, it can shift the whole game. I think we still played really hard after that. But yeah, I could tell it brought down the morale a little bit.”
Zeeland added another goal to lead 12-8 after three quarters and added two goals in the fourth to cap the scoring.
Zeeland improved to 3-1 on the season.
Latsch led R-P with three goals, followed by Cooper and Stawski with two apiece and Brainard with one. Stawski and Huff both finished with two assists while Brainard had one.
