High School Lacrosse
REGULAR SEASON
APRIL 4, 2007
St. X quashes Collegiate in game of discontent
By NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
St. Xavier High School junior Eamon McGetrick realizes that the Collegiate boys’ lacrosse team is not easy prey anymore.
“(The Titans) have gotten a lot better,” he said. “They used to be pushovers. They’re contenders now.”
So it’s understandable that neither team was satisfied after St. X’s 13-9 win at Collegiate’s Champions Trace field on Wednesday night.
On one side were the Tigers (4-0), whose coach, Scott Howe, popularized the sport in Louisville and built the state’s first power at St. X. He wanted to know how some of his players could appear to take a good team like Collegiate lightly.
”It’s cold and windy out here,” he said. “Maybe they were more cold than interested in playing. It just looked like the other team wanted it more.”
And on the other side were the Titans (3-1), who, as Howe figured, did want it a lot. Collegiate aspires to play for the Kentucky Lacrosse Association’s Division 1 championship in May but still has not beaten St. X since its varsity debut in 2005.
“It’s in the kids’ hands now,” Collegiate coach Tom Windham said. “They have to come back from spring break and get it in their heads that if they do a little work, they can contend against the top teams.”
The chance to contend on Wednesday slipped from the Titans’ hands in the second quarter, when St. X scored four straight goals in less than eight minutes to jump ahead 6-1. McGetrick’s stick was involved in all of those goals, scoring the first two and assisting seniors Nick Edwards and Charlie Helm on the other two.
“We kind of broke down on the defensive side,” Collegiate senior Will Cary said.
The Titans were playing catch-up for the rest of the game, even after making a spirited comeback bid before halftime. Cary and senior Michael Imburgia each scored an unassisted goal with phenomenal individual efforts, and senior Linkon Altman also beat sophomore goalie Aaron Benz (6 assists) with an assist from sophomore Carson Pfeifer.
But McGetrick’s twin brother, Connor, scored with 21 seconds left in the first half and sent the Tigers into the break with an 8-4 lead. The teams then traded goals throughout the second half.
The Tigers out-shot Collegiate 33-20 and put 20 shots on senior goalie Zach Duck (7 saves).
“They’re just a better team,” Windham said. “We definitely have a few better players. But they have numbers, and they have good sticks across the board.”
The McGetrick brothers, whose father is Bellarmine University men’s lacrosse coach Jack McGetrick, each recorded five points for the Tigers. Eamon McGetrick had two goals and three assists, and Connor McGetrick had three goals and two assists.
Helm also scored three goals, and seniors Travis Marcum and Winston Arnold each scored two.
“Our attack played well,” said Howe, who singled out the McGetricks, Helm and Marcum before realizing the direction he was going. “Our leaders played well. But our younger kids made younger kid mistakes.”
He was particularly displeased with his team’s defense, which had difficulty preventing the likes of Imburgia and Altman from getting good looks at the cage.
Imburgia scored five goals and leads the KLA with 23 points. Altman scored twice. Cary and junior Will Hornaday each had a goal and an assist, and Pfeifer had three assists.
“They’ve got some real good players,” Eamon McGetrick said, “and they’ll take it to you if you let them.”
The Titans already want another chance to do just that.
“I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing them again in the playoffs,” Cary said. “Maybe this will motivate us to beat them when we do.”