The injury bug has taken a gigantic bite out of the Fort Mill boys lacrosse team this season.
Fort Mill fell to 1-9 on the season with an 8-7 loss to the Christ the King Crusaders Saturday at Bob Jones Stadum in their latest game.
Jackets’ head coach Michael Desmond said despite their record, he is holding out hope for still making the playoffs. Fort Mill has lost seven players, four of which are done for the season, to injury, Desmond said.
“If we had those seven guys, we could at least be .500,” Desmond said. “If we can beat Boiling Springs, we can still get an at-large bid.”
Fort Mill is winless in Region 3-5A so their game against Boiling Springs March 31 would be critical for that playoff possibility.
On Saturday, Fort Mill stayed with the Crusaders for most of the game, but struggled with turnovers and lost balls.
“We played really hard,” Desmond said. “I am proud of the effort. We just made to many mental mistakes early on.”
The Crusaders scored the first two goals in the game, but Trent Farley scored the first of his three goals with about 1:14 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, both teams scored two goals each, as Fort Mill got goals from Lewis Merkle and Farley, but Christ the King took a 4-3 lead to the half. The third quarter saw the majority of scoring in the match as Farley tied the game at 4-4 about 4:30 into the second half.
The Crusaders then scored three consecutive goals to go up 7-4 with about 3:18 left in the quarter, before Fort Mill rallied to pull within one as Jeremiah Campbell and Jake Axton each scored.
In the fourth quarter, an own goal extended the Crusaders lead to 8-6 as Fort Mill struggled to score in the quarter with only Campbell providing a goal for the Jackets.
Fort Mill will next travel to Blythewood March 29 for its next game, before heading to Boiling Springs later in the week. Their next home game at Bob Jones Stadium will be April 4 against Catawba Ridge.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
