REID SAYRE chases down a Sayre’s Lawson Kinder during Woodford’s 12-5 win March 11. (Photo by Bill Caine)
The WCHS boys’ lacrosse team is 2-0 after a 12-5 win over Sayre Tuesday, March 11. The Jackets trailed in the third quarter but fought back and blanked the Spartans for the remainder of the game – closing the game on a 9-0 scoring run.
“We were flat tonight,” said Coach Ted Wilson. “Credit to Sayre because they played the game they needed to and kept possessions away from us. Our offense is volatile and we couldn’t do what we wanted for the first three quarters. They threw the ball around the horn and played an empty set. They kept us guessing and (we) weren’t getting opportunities. We finally woke up and got it together late in the third quarter. Charlie (Twehues) is our heartbeat. He won six or seven faceoffs in a row to give us those possessions to get our offense going.”
The game was tied at 2-2 at halftime, and neither team found much momentum to build off. The Spartans were sparked by a fantastic performance from keeper Finn McKay, who made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game.
Lawson Kinder scored the second half’s first goal, giving Sayre a 3-2 advantage. Moments later, Behr Wheeler fired a rocket past McKay, tying the game 3-3. Sayre held the ball and moved it around to kill time off the clock until Caden Jones scored to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. Salam Hamza added a goal as the Spartans took a two-goal advantage. With Woodford reeling, Charlie Twehues won the next faceoff as the Jackets began to climb back into the game. Woodford rallied to tie the game before time expired in the third quarter on goals from Wheeler and Cole Humston.
The Jackets offense finally clicked in the fourth quarter as Twehues won six straight faceoffs, leading to possessions and shot chances. Greyson Hodge scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, giving Woodford a 6-5 lead. Brayden Humston and Hodge scored back-to-back goals as Woodford opened an 8-5 lead. Woodford continued to score at will as Wheeler, Cole Humston and Hodge added goals to cap off the comeback win.
The Jackets began the season with a 28-1 win over Dunbar Friday, March 7 at Community Stadium. Ten players scored goals for the Jackets led by seven from Brayden Humston and five from Cole Humston.