Sanderson boys’ lacrosse cruises past first-year Rolesville
After a pair of decisive losses to open the season, the Sanderson boys’ lacrosse team was finally on the winning side of a lopsided score. Preston Crounse netted five goals to help lead the Spartans to a 16-2 victory over visiting Rolesville in a nonconference match on Tuesday. The Sanderson girls defeated Rolesville 19-1 earlier in the day.
Spartans’ Garrett Hess added three goals and an assist, and Michael Bell had two goals and an assist for Sanderson (1-2), which had endured double-digit losses to Enloe and Broughton prior to breaking loose against the Rams.
“I was very happy with how we played. I thought our guys would get a little discouraged after the first two games, but we remained positive,” Sanderson coach Lawrence Davis said. “I felt the last two games, even though we lost those games, each game we got a little bit better. So we were able to come out and play a successful game against (Rolesville).”
Crounse scored four of his five goals in the opening quarter to help stake Sanderson to a 7-0 lead. It was 8-0 before Rolesville (0-4) finally got on the scoreboard with 4 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the second quarter, when Coy Parrott scored the first of his two goals for Rolesville.
Goalie Duncan Fraser had 12 saves for the Rams, holding up fairly well under consistent offensive pressure from Sanderson. Rolesville coach J.J. Mokan, while acknowledging his first-year varsity program will likely endure some lumps this season, was disappointed with his team’s inability to adequately perform the basics.
“What I tell them is if they want to stay competitive, and all these guys are competitive, what they need to realize is that the throwing and catching is something they can work on outside of practice,” Mokan said. “I’m OK right now, because as a new program I know we’re going to make mistakes because of the inexperience.
“But something we can work on is the passing and catching, and that really hurt us (Tuesday), the fundamentals under pressure. We weren’t used to that pressure and it showed.”
They said it
“It was good for the guys to come out and get the win,” senior captain Jack Ellis said. “I didn’t think we were going to play this well. It worked out for us tonight, I think all the guys really got into it and kept it going from there.”
Three to know
Preston Crounse, Sanderson: His fast start helped get Sanderson rolling early. He scored from close range one minute into play off a nice pass from Justin Mauzy, then made it 2-0 less than a minute later on a bouncing shot from about 10 yards out.
“It was very important for us to get two goals quick, usually we give up those two goals quickly,” Davis said. “It’s good to be on the other side of that and to have things click for once.”
D.J. Beckham, Sanderson: On the few occasions Rolesville penetrated the Sanderson defense, the long-stick midfielder did a fine job of disrupting things, either by clogging the lanes or by forcing turnovers.
Duncan Fraser, Rolesville: The Rams goalie made a number of solid saves, keeping his composure under relentless pressure from Sanderson’s offense.
This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Sanderson boys’ lacrosse cruises past first-year Rolesville."