The Reeths-Puffer lacrosse team has not won a lot of games so far this season, but the Rockets have battled and had some close calls against quality opponents.
That was definitely the case on Friday, when R-P faced undefeated Coopersville, fell five goals behind, then battled back late to make it close in an 11-9 loss.
The Rockets managed to tie the score in the fourth quarter before two late Coopersville goals settled the issue.
Garrison Nicklasch led the way for R-P with a four-goal performance.
Coopersville led 3-2 after one quarter. Cohen Beck and Niklasch scored the goals for R-P.
Garrison Niklasch
The Rockets were outscored 4-0 in the second quarter and trailed 7-2 at halftime.
R-P had a 4-2 advantage in the third quarter, with two goals from Nicklasch and one apiece from Blake Kiel and Jax Sieplinga, and trailed 9-6 headed into the fourth.
R-P’s Braeden Monette scored the first two goals of the final quarter, then Nicklash registered his fourth, and suddenly the game was tied 9-9.
The last two Coopersville goals came within the final three minutes of the game.
R-P head coach Josh Robidoux noted that his team had played the night before, but still had the energy to make it a great game on Friday.
Jax Sieplinga
“We have a team full of highly competitive players, so of course we hate to lose, but this game was huge in showing them that they are able to hang with a great team,” the coach said. “A few small corrections and we very well could have handed them their first loss of the season.
“It takes a ton of grit and perseverance to battle back from a five-goal deficit, especially when so many of those were scored in such a short time. As coaches we were very proud that our players didn't hang their heads from the game before and battled all game long.”
The Rockets had a much more difficult time the night before, falling to Kenowa Hills 22-5.
The first quarter made the difference in the game, with Kenowa Hills and grabbing an 11-0 lead.
Beck and Nicklasch scored for the Rockets in the second quarter. Hunter Adams, Sieplinga and Nicklasch scored in the fourth.
“It was definitely a tough game, and it's easy to let a game like that demotivate you and the effort you've been putting in, but fortunately our players handled things well in the second half and were able to use the experience to learn from,” Robidoux said.
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