The Reeths-Puffer lacrosse team never gives up, no matter how dire the situation may be.
It was certainly dire on Friday night, when the Rockets were outscored 5-0 in the first quarter and trailed 7-0 early in the second.
For most teams, trailing by that much so early in the game would have been a huge downer. But for the Rockets, it just created a bigger challenge, and they somehow found the energy and confidence to overcome it.
Reeths-Puffer responded by scoring 14 of the final 18 goals in the wild game and emerged with an amazing 14-11 victory.
The win was the second in a row for the Rockets and improved their record to 2-3 on the season.
The attack was led by Kyler Brainard, who continued his very hot scoring streak with four goals. That gives him 10 goals in the last two games.
Kyler Brainard, who scored four goals.
JT Fansler also had a very big outing, scoring two crucial goals in the fourth quarter and adding an impressive six assists.
Cohen Beck added a three-goal hat trick for the Rockets while Brooks Johnson and Carson Cooper each found the net twice.
Owen Griener had one goal and three assists.
“As coaches, we've emphasized the necessity of mental toughness and grit all season long, and what a great example of that this game was tonight,” said R-P Coach Josh Robidoux. “To be down by seven goals at the start of the game, it's easy to hang your head or let your mistakes continue to compound, but these guys have way more fight in them than that.
"All it takes is one goal or one positive moment for this team to feed off of that spark. When Brooks buried the first goal, I could tell the momentum would shift quickly in our favor, and that's the moment we started playing our brand of lacrosse”
Grand Rapids Christian came out hot in the first quarter and grabbed a quick 5-0 lead heading into the second.
JT Fansler, who had two goals and six assists.
Christian added two more goals to start the second quarter and extended its lead to 7-0.
Then the Rockets got rolling, ending the second quarter with six straight goals from Johnson, Cooper, Brainard (two in a row), Beck and Greiner, leaving GR Christian with a narrow 7-6 lead at halftime.
GRC scored first in the second half to go up 8-6, then the Rockets exploded again with three straight goals from Johnson, Brainard and Beck. Christian got the last goal of the third quarter and the score was tied 9-9 heading into the fourth.
GRC went up 10-9 with 9:47 left in the game, then Reeths-Puffer roared ahead for good with five straight goals. JT Fansler led off the onslaught with two straight goals, followed by single tallies from Brainard, Beck and Cooper.
Grand Rapids Christan scored the final goal with 4:11 remaining.
Coach Robidoux said the Rockets were missing two key players – Luke Callender and Connor Stawski – and credited Jack Bahorski for filling in well on faceoffs and Beck for stepping in and being a force on the offensive end.
Robidoux also had high praise for Fansler, saying the senior “had a phenomenal game and was essential to the comeback. His impact tonight can't be overstated. He is just a tough young man both mentally and physically. Even beyond his goals and assists, his ability to look past mistakes and motivate his teammates makes him the kind of player that any team would love to have.”