The Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse team overcame a slow start to pull away for a convincing win over Catawba Ridge.
Fort Mill won 15-1 scoring all 15 goals unanswered to improve to 7-3 on the season and open Region 3-5A play 1-0. Catawba Ridge dropped to 4-4 on the season and 0-1 in region play.
“I think we are heading in the right direction,” said Fort Mill head coach Alex Tindall. “We have found a way to put four quarters together. We have so much senior leadership on this team. What they are bringing out in the younger guys at practice is coming out in the game.”
The Copperheads’ Caleb Williams scored first about 90 seconds into the match, but Patrick Yarborough delivered for the Jackets 90 seconds after that scoring Fort Mill’s first goal.
The match slowed a lot afterward as Catawba Ridge controlled possession, but wasn’t able to score. Carson Maloney broke the 1-1 tie for Fort Mill just about five minutes left in the opening period.
The Copperheads had a little trouble in the first keeping possession and not turning it over. That was the difference in Fort Mill’s 3-1 lead after the first quarter.
Yarborough opened the second quarter with a goal, his second, for the Jackets.
Catawba Ridge had early opportunities in the second quarter, but turned the ball over or was either stopped by the Fort Mill defense.
“We have a lot of guys banged up,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Mike Gambrill. “We got to get healthy and fix the little things. We just have to keep working.”
Yarborough got a hat trick for himself and put the Jackets up 5-1 with 6:18 left in the second quarter. Charlie McGuire got in on the action a minute later scoring for Fort Mill.
The Copperheads continued to struggle with turnovers in the second quarter stalling their offense. With less than a minute left in the quarter, Maddox Baucom scored for the Jackets making it 7-1 at the half.
Catawba Ridge played better to start the second half and was able to hold possession for a while, but couldn’t get enough penetration to score.
While Fort Mill didn’t have the ball a lot, they were able to make the most of it. Maloney scored his third goal of the match with 6:20 left in the third quarter for the Jackets. McGuire added his second goal of the match for Fort Mill with about 2:15. Yarborough added his fourth goal of the match scoring with less than a minute left in the quarter to go up 10-1 before the end of the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Fort Mill would add five more goals with two by Cam Wilcox, and other goals by Cayden Kalpheke, Mark Newland, and Maloney.
Fort Mill goalkeeper Jack Annin was key the whole match with multiple saves.
March 24 Roundup
The Fort Mill tennis team blanked Indian Land winning 6-0. Winning for the Jackets were Ethan Franklin 6-2, 6-0; Jack Childs 6-0, 3-6, 10-7; Noah Mills 6-1, 6-1; Arnav Meshram 6-2, 6-2; Patrick Wright 6-1, 6-2; and in doubles, Xander Pak and Lucas Coelho 6-0, 6-0. Fort Mill is 5-0 on the season.
The Fort Mill baseball team beat Rock Hill 13-2 in game one of their three game series to improve to 4-3 in Region 3-5A play and 7-3 overall. Andrew Craddock and JB Walters each had two hits to lead Fort Mill. Kody Romero pitched a five-inning one hitter allowing two runs, while walking one and striking out eight.
The Fort Mill softball team fell 13-1 to Lancaster to drop to 3-2 overall on the season. Lexi Verastegui and Elise Nordgren each had two hits for Fort Mill.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team lost 3-0 to JL Mann in non-region action. The two teams combined for four hits with each team getting two hits each. The Copperheads dropped to 6-4-1 overall on the season.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ golf team shot a 323 in the first round of the Bengal Invitational at Columbia Country Club. Niam Sethi led with a 76 for the Copperheads, who sit in 15th place of 27 teams.
The Nation Ford baseball team beat Indian Land in game one of their three game series to improve to 6-3 overall and 4-0 in Region 3-5A. Ben Chuttey went 2-3 to lead Nation Ford and Carter Czapla pitched a complete game allowing two hits and one walk, while striking out six.
The Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team lost to Clover 11-10 to fall to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in Region 3-5A play.
The Nation Ford girls’ lacrosse team dropped a match to Clover falling 18-9 as they fell to 1-7 on the season and 0-1 in Region 3-5A.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
