One of these days the Reeths-Puffer lacrosse team is going to turn one of its nail-biter games into a victory.
The Rockets, who lost their first two games of the season by just one goal, battled back from a four-goal deficit on Wednesday to tie their game in the second half, but ended up falling to Holland Christian 8-6.
R-P’s Luke Callendar opened the scoring in the first quarter, but the Maroons answered with four goals and led 4-1 heading into the second.
JT Fansler, who scored twice for R-P.
Holland Christian scored the only goal of the second quarter and led 5-1 at halftime.
Reeths-Puffer bounced back with a 4-0 advantage in the third quarter, collecting goals from Kyler Brainard, JT Fansler, Carson Cooper and then another one from Fansler.
The game was tied 5-5 headed into the fourth, but Holland Christian stole the victory by outscoring the Rockets 3-1 down the stretch. Brainard collected his second goal of the game in the final quarter.
Kyler Brainard, who also scored two goals for the Rockets.
“They came out hot in the first half and we were flat,” said R-P Coach Josh Robidoux. “At halftime I spoke with the guys about how we were not playing our brand of lacrosse. They were rushing and making small mistakes that resulted in big changes in momentum and were struggling to see through Holland Christian's offensive system. We made the necessary adjustments and fired back in the second half.
“We knew that the start of our season had some traditionally strong (opponents), and at this point we know we can compete with those teams. Now it's a matter of stringing together four consistent quarters of our brand of lacrosse. We see glimpses of the team that we can and hope to be, but are continuing to work and build to that point.
“I have no doubt that this team is capable of special things this season. They just need to stay the course and continue to improve and believe that they are capable.”