Highland did not have any problems rolling through the first round of the playoffs on May 14 and placing their bid for round two.
When Highland Head Lacrosse coach Neil Blaney was asked about when he knew Highland was going to win their first-round playoff game, he was all confidence.
“I knew before the game was even played.” Blaney said.
It was a complete show from Highland. Where most lacrosse games are won by margins of a few points, Highland had no problems beating the Bonneville Lakers, with the final score coming out to be 17-3 in Highland’s favor.
It looked as though Blaney was correct in his statement of sure victory, and his players agreed with him.
“I knew we won when we score the first goal.” Highland junior Henry Woodman said.
His teammate, Highland senior Noah Adamson’s response was the same.
“I knew as soon as we stepped on the field.” Highland sophomore goalie Luke Robison said.
Highland was dominant to say the least, starting with not losing a single face-off in the entire game. Highland’s defense looked particularly aggressive and locked down in Tuesday’s game, and that’s coming in perfect timing with such a difficult playoff path ahead of them, and as the team is missing its star offensive player, Junior Kevin Clinger.
It’s hard for Highland to prove what a top-notch lax program it is when the region Highland’s in is filled to the brim with stellar teams like Park City, Olympus, and Brighton. Although, that difficult regular season has primed Highland to make a deep playoff run.
“Our region is so ridiculous. Our region has a ton of top ten teams in it.” Blaney said, “I think we’re pretty much even with the other teams.”
That toughness broadcasted itself in the Rams win. The stat sheet operators had no lack of work during the game. It seemed like all the Rams were taking turns putting the ball into the Bonneville net, with multiple players having a three or four goal game.
Even Adamson, who plays a position that is only defense, had his fun when he went coast to coast and scored a goal with his long pole.
But now that the fun is over, the Rams are preparing for a challenging second round and possibly beyond.
“Effort. A lot more effort.” Robison said.
It was easy for Highland not to take this game seriously considering it was an easy win. Meaning that the boys didn’t play their hardest lacrosse.
“I’d give it a B-.” Blaney said.
So, the team knows there has got to be a mindset change going into games that are going to be harder.
“We have to go out there and show effort. If we do go out and show effort, we have a better chance.” Adamson said.
Highland has a good chance to be a dangerous team in this year’s playoffs. Step one was taking care of business at home on Tuesday night. Step two is going over and beating a stacked Roy Royals team in a tough away game on May 16. And at this point in the season, most of the work has been put in, so the game will fall to who wants the win more and which team is going to grit it out.
And the teams heart, Robison in the goal box, is ready for the challenge.
“I think we can play, and think if we play hard, have fun, and show no mercy, we can ball out and smoke teams.”
