Top-seeded Ravenscroft boys’ lacrosse gets past Cannon in playoff opener
After last season’s championship runner-up finish, the Ravenscroft boys’ lacrosse team could face a familiar foe in the second round after defeating the Cannon Cougars, 10-4, in the first round of the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I tournament.
The top-seeded Ravens (15-2), who will play the winner of Charlotte Latin School or Providence Day School, fell behind early with the No. 8 Cougars (Concord) controlling the ball in the first quarter. Cannon’s Cole Batchelor scored twice and Thomas Leck scored with less than a minute remaining before Ravenscroft took over.
“[Cannon] came out with a good plan,” Ravenscroft coach Sandy Kapatos said. “They played a zone. They played a backer zone. We haven’t seen that from them. That’s something they never did before; our kids got a little unnerved by it.”
They had possession of the ball the entire first quarter. When a team has the ball, they are going to score. We needed the ball. When we finally got the ball in the first quarter, we either threw the ball away, or threw a bad pass... I don’t know. Go figure.”
Ravenscroft freshman Jake Schneider scored twice in the second quarter to tie the game at 3. Jack Newall and Spencer Bellar each added goals as Ravenscroft turned things around by outscoring Cannon 4-0 in the quarter.
“I think we came out firing, and got a little too sloppy trying to push the ball. Once we settled in and got rid of the jitters, we stepped up and put [Cannon] away,” said Schneider.
The Ravens continued on the offensive end, scoring twice in the third quarter, extending their lead to four goals. Shane Calderwood scored his first of two goals, and Troy Jones added his second.
Last year, Ravenscroft’s successful season ended on a disappointing note in the championship game against Charlotte Latin (15-10). With new faces and a new year, Kapatos insists that a potential second-round matchup with Charlotte Latin will have a completely new feel.
“ I don’t think we came up short last year. We went to the finals and got beat by the better team,” said Kapatos. “[This year] it’s a totally different team from one year to the next. Other than it being a positive experience to get to the finals, the kids will benefit from that, hopefully. But that’s not necessarily how we consider things.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 11:50 PM with the headline "Top-seeded Ravenscroft boys’ lacrosse gets past Cannon in playoff opener."