Gaining control of loose ground balls is how teams win games, according to Fort Mill boys lacrosse head coach Alex Tindall.
The Yellow Jackets, now 4-1, did just that Monday night, scooping up passes and racking up a five-goal second quarter that helped secure an 11-9 win over Providence High (Charlotte, N.C.) at Bob Jones Stadium in Fort Mill.
Fort Mill senior midfielder Maddox Baucom scored a hat-trick, while senior midfielder Charlie McGuire, sophomore attack Moses Bowser, and junior attack Cam Wilcox all notched braces to help the home team earn their fourth win of the season.
Attack Tyler Ball led Providence (2-2) with five goals, while Tripp Smith, Tyler Seufert, Connor Ball, and Oliver Sutsko all added a goal apiece. Fort Mill goalie Sean Sholtis saved nine shots.
Tindall said his team came out a little flat following a 1-1 first quarter.
“I told them that we’ve got to find a way to get the juice going,” he said. “We find the flow, and they really put their foot on the gas from there. I think the ground balls in the second quarter, we were really outworking them. That kind of gave us the spark to go on a bit of a run there.”
Fort Mill scored five straight goals in the second quarter, including four in the space of about four minutes.
Baucom helped Fort Mill take the lead by bullying his way into the middle and bouncing a shot past Providence goalie Carson Sterling.
McGuire then scored the team’s next two goals, one from long-range and another from up close soon after, to push the lead to 4-1. Junior Ollie Kulchuk and Brayden Klapheke notched the two final goals of the quarter, with Klapheke doing well on an isolation play to beat Sterling up top.
Providence outscored Fort Mill 4-3 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to four goals.
Ball scored twice, and Tyler Seufert and Tripp Smith both scored a goal each throughout the third quarter, which featured much more end-to-end action than the first half.
But Baucom scored early in the quarter, while Moses Bowser picked up two goals for Fort Mill to help the Yellow Jackets keep pace.
Providence continued to pour on the pressure in the fourth quarter, outscoring Fort Mill 4-2. The Panthers cut the lead to 10-8 with 2:30 left, thanks to Ball’s fourth goal of the night. But Baucom notched his third goal of the evening a minute later to ensure that the Panthers couldn’t complete a road comeback.
“It’s about knowing how to put away teams early,” Tindall said. “I’m worried about what we need to do, and that’s playing sound defensively. We gave the ball away too many times, and they took advantage of it. We’ve got to be gritty, nose to the ground, on loose balls. When we come up with it, we’re the most successful, especially in transition.”
March 9 Roundup
The Nation Ford baseball team improved to 4-1 overall on the season with an 11-1 win over Northwestern in their home opener. Carter Powell threw a no-hitter going five innings and striking out 11 and walking five. Nation Ford is 1-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team shutout Fort Mill 10-0 to take game one of their series. Bryce Meil threw a one-hitter and struck out eight without surrendering a walk. The Copperheads improved to 5-1 on the season, while Fort Mill dropped to 1-3 overall. Fort Mill is 0-1 in Region 3-5A, while Catawba Ridge is 1-0 in the region.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ lacrosse team beat Indian Land 18-1 for their first win of the season and improved to 1-3 overall.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ lacrosse team beat Indian Land 23-2 for their first win of the season and improved to 1-1 on the year.
