The Vashon High School boys’ lacrosse team has continued its winning ways.
After defeating Gig Harbor and Peninsula in back-to-back games by one goal, they are in the final stretch in conference play, which will determine seeding and home field advantage for the playoffs.
This past week the Vultures saw South Kitsap and North Kitsap. South Kitsap is on the rise and had defeated a mutual opponent by a higher margin than the Vashon team did. This was an away game, and the team arrived extremely early because of the limited Southworth boat schedule. The team and its fans got to see what a track meet on a good track will look like.
The track meet wound down, and the game got underway, but the players from South Kitsap took advantage of a slow start from Vashon and scored two quick goals. The Vashon team then found second gear, and Paris Brown had a combination of goals and assists to put Vashon in the lead. This was not a game they thoroughly put away, but they did enough. They weathered a late man-down situation, and though they let South Kitsap get within 1 point, they again found a better gear and pulled away one last time. Final score: Vashon 9, South Kitsap 7.
Calvin McMillan notably had four goals in this game. He reads the defense well and manages to find open pockets of space where he is found with quick anticipation by his teammates.
In the Thursday game against North Kitsap, it was deja vu all over again, with Vashon going down two goals in the first minute at home, but turning things around. Again the defense held up well in a number of man-down situations and were resilient throughout the game. Brown had another good game with three goals and four assists. The final score was Vashon 9, North Kitsap 6.
A few key stats on the season: The top five goal scorers are Max Schira, 26; Kiryk Mozeleski, 25; Calvin McMillan, 18; Brown, 15; Jake Carmen, 12. Notably in assists we have Brown with 24, followed by Schira with 15, Calvin McMillan with nine, Mason Rice with eight and Mozeleski with five. Ground balls have Brown with 41, Rice with 33, Dom Nagle with 30, Finn McClure with 29, and Calvin McMillan with 27. Defenders Joe Ghiglieri and Carlos Hernandez have another 26 and 24 respectively. This ground game has been critical for our success this year. Grinding out the wins would be the operable phrase.
Vashon has two games left in the regular season.
Come out this Thursday, when the Vultures play Klahowya for the final home game, and watch the seniors Hernandez and Dylan McMillan shut down the opponents offense, and Schira no doubt getting a few in the net.
The game will be played at the VES Fields due to stadium construction commencing.
The final regular season game will be Tuesday, May 1, at North Kitsap.
— Greg Martin is the father of a Vulture.
