JA senior defender Will Heisler (26) tries to halt Bishop Watterson’s Chris Sauter (1) as the attackman attempts to find an open shot. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
Jonathan Alder’s lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Bishop Watterson.
The Eagles won, 14-8.
“FWe played very well during the first half,” JA coach Rob Davis said. “We talked about staying in the blue and we had a couple of moments where we didn’t do that.”
It was a battle at the start with the visiting Eagles taking the lead with one goal in the initial minutes of the opening quarter.
Jonathan Alder tied the game at 1-1 with just under 11 minutes to play in the first quarter.
After battling the Eagles on their portion of the field, JA junior Aspen Cameron took matters into his own hands.
He connected on a shot to take the lead at 2-1 with under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter.
However, the Eagles did not give in easily, tying the matchup once again at 2-2 with roughly three and a half minutes left in the opening quarter.
With an early shootout in the works, the athletes donning Cardinal and Gold took the lead with 1:56 left in the stanza.
The Eagles then upped their advantage to 4-2.
The Pioneer defense later made a solid stop after losing the following face-off.
That put the ball back into Cameron’s stick.
From far out, he once again connected on a goal making it a one-point contest at 4-3 in the final 30 seconds of the first quarter.
“From that point on, it was about getting their emotions back in check and getting them playing the way they can,” Davis said.
As the matchup continued, JA struggles to find a rhythm on offense causedmoments of strife for the once undefeated team.
“I just think our defense needs to play more disciplined after giving up more than half of the goals when we were a man down,” Cameron said. “Other than that, it was the fight and effort on ground balls that we didn’t necessarily have.”
At the intermission, Davis alluded that in some critical moments, the team’s emotions got the best of them.
Going up against one of the more challenging opponents this season, the coaching staff sought to keep playing their version of lacrosse.
“We told them they were beating us on ground balls,” Davis said about the conversation at halftime. “We were also playing one-man ball more than we needed to on offense… we needed to share the ball more.”
Bishop Watterson took the road win in the end when the clock hit zero in Pioneer country.
After the game, Davis noted how well the Eagles recovered ground balls, something the Pioneers will work on moving forward.
Davis also drew attention to the Eagles’ level of defense which took away most of the Pioneers’ scoring opportunities.
With aspects such as ground balls and sharing the wealth when it comes to passing, those will be points of emphasis as JA preps for its next game against Dayton Chaminade-Julienne today.
“This was a great challenge for us,” Davis said. “We put them on our schedule because we know the caliber of team they are and the coaching staff they have.”
As a team, Davis noted the Pioneers are on an upward track in terms of staying competitive with other established teams in central Ohio.
The coach wants to the team to see what the “higher level of competition looks like.”
“It shows the kind of team we are after beating them 5-4 in the second half.” said Cameron. “We are never out of any game.”
“We made our schedule harder this year for that reason,” Davis said.
The Pioneers now have a record of 3-1 ahead of their next matchup in Dayton.
After experiencing their first loss of the season, keeping their heads high is the focus.
“This game doesn’t define us,” Davis said, adding the Pioneers have a strong brotherhood.
“It’s water under the bridge now… We just have to come in tomorrow (Thursday) and have a good couple hours of practice.”