After getting back to .500, Nation Ford head boys’ lacrosse coach Cory Turner said his team still has a lot of work ahead of them.
The Falcons beat the Catawba Ridge Copperheads 14-5 to improve to 5-5 overall and 3-1 in Region 3-5A. Nation Ford scored seven unanswered goals in the third quarter to pull away from the Copperheads. Catawba Ridge dropped to 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the region.
“It is a lot of work ahead to get better,” Turner said. “We made some changes at halftime and that lit a fire under us. We fizzled out in the fourth quarter. We are still struggling to have a complete game.”
Nation Ford had chances in the early going in controlling possession in the first couple of minutes, but could not breakthrough. The Falcons controlled possession through most of the first quarter, but defense was critical for Catawba Ridge. The Copperheads had their chances as well, but not as many throughout the first quarter.
Nation Ford finally broke through with 2:35 in the opening quarter as Caleb Nickola scored. The Falcons extended their lead a little more than two minutes later as Ezra Williams-Festa scored with 33 seconds remaining.
The Falcons opened the second quarter leading 2-0, but started playing a lot of defense as Catawba Ridge was able to get several shots off. That finally paid off as Bradey Compton scored at the 8:48 mark.
The Copperheads had a more balanced approach in the second quarter, and while Nation Ford was able to keep possession for a lot of the time, they struggled at times in scoring.
Nickola found the net with about four minutes left in the half to go up 3-1. Nation Ford added another goal before the break as Jack McNaughton scored with 61 seconds remaining in the half extending the Falcons lead.
Catawba Ridge’s Will Gambrill cut the Falcons’ lead to two scoring with 11 seconds left in the half to make it 4-2.
Nation Ford scored three minutes into the third quarter with a goal from Rhys Nelson. A minute later Dylan Dejute kept things moving for the Falcons with a goal of his own. A minute after that, Nelson got his second of the third quarter as Nation Ford started opening the scoring up. Dejute followed with his second goal less than 60 seconds later as the two teammates totaled four goals in four minutes during that timeframe.
The Falcons’ flood gates continued to open as Nickola collected a hat trick with a goal at 5:39 to make it 9-2. Dejute secured a hat trick two minutes later with his third goal of the third quarter. Then 30 seconds later, Williams-Festa scored his second goal in the match.
Gambrill scored his second goal of the game for Catawba Ridge with 29 seconds remaining in the quarter to make it 11-3 and break a seven-goal streak for Nation Ford.
In the fourth quarter, the Copperheads Boston Halpin scored about 90 seconds into play. The Copperheads kept chipping away about a minute later as Gambrill collected a hat trick with his third goal of the match.
Scoring slowed down for the Falcons in the fourth quarter, but Williams-Festa got a hat trick with his third goal of the match with 3:35 remaining. Less than 40 seconds later, Cam Larranga scored for Nation Ford. He would add a second goal less than a minute later to end the scoring for the match for both teams.
March 26 Roundup
The Nation Ford boys’ tennis team won 6-0 over Indian Land and improved to 7-1 overall on the season.
The Nation Ford boys’ soccer team fell to Clover 2-1 to drop to 5-8 overall on the season and 2-3 in Region 3-5A.
The Fort Mill boys’ tennis team improved to 8-2 on the season with a 5-1 win over Rock Hill. Winning for Fort Mill was Liam Marriott 6-2, 7-5; Jethin Bastin 6-0, 6-4; Ishaan Amjath 6-2, 6-1; Jackson Bradley 6-1, 6-2; and Sawyer Bryan and Rudra Patki 7-5, 6-2.
The Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse team beat Clover 9-8 to improve to 9-1 on the season and 4-0 in Region 3-5A.
The Catawba Ridge girls’ lacrosse team beat Nation Ford 16-10 to improve to 3-5 on the season and 2-1 in Region 3-5A. Nation Ford dropped to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in region play.
The Catawba Ridge baseball team lost to JL Mann 5-1 on the road after one bad inning. The are now 10-3 overall on the season.
The Catawba Ridge boys’ golf team fell to Clover 160-174. Roman Vasicko led with a 41 for the Copperheads. Niam Sethi shot a 42 and Muller Otto finished with a 45 for Catawba Ridge. Carter Mitten finished the match with a 46 for the Copperheads, who dropped to 3-2 in dual matches.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
