Marysville’s Jamey Best (22) gets ready to take a shot on Sylvania Northview’s goal during the second quarter while defensemen Preston Worth tries to interrupt his shot. Best notched five goals along with one assist against the visiting Wildcats.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
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Marysville’s boys lacrosse team recently got back on the winning track following a 12-6 win against Sylvania Northview.
“It feels great,” senior Jamey Best said after the win. “Thursday we had a rough game, played badly and we should’ve won.”
Coming off a 9-8 loss against Findlay, the Monarchs sought to get back on the winning side. The loss was the team’s second of the regular season.
“The team did a lot better than our previous game,” MHS assistant coach Bob McGee said. “They were moving the ball more and cutting on offense.”
Things did not go as Marysville expected at the start of the first quarter.
The Wildcats grabbed an early 3-0 lead with scores by Liam Diesing, Conor Wisniewski (assisted by Nate Dempsey) and Brandon Rundquist.
Best then tallied two goals. One was assisted by Julian Kennedy.
“They were locking me wherever I was,” Best said. “As soon as I got the ball, they would slide. I either looked for a goal or a pass.”
Rundquist upped Northview’s lead to 4-2.
Another score from Best kept the Monarchs within 4-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Northview went up 5-3 in the second set.
With the fear of things getting out of hand, Marysville had a sudden shift on the offensive front.
Best claimed a hat-trick moments later with his third goal. He closed the gap to 5-4.
He later assisted Hunter Sheldon’s goal that tied the contest at 5-5.
Sheldon delivered an assist to Ben Alessi, whose goal gave MHS a 6-5 lead with less than five minutes left in the first half.
Dusty Bernard notched his lone goal in the second half, putting MHS up 7-5.
“The talk (at halftime) was good,” Best said. “We knew we had to come out hot.
“We talked about getting in that right mindset and everyone playing well,” he said. “The defense locked in and won the game.”
Marysville stayed aggressive and notched goals by Brandon Weigand, Sheldon and Alessi.
At the four-minute mark, the Wildcats opted for a timeout.
Once play resumed, Northview’s Charlie Lutz cut the deficit to four (10-6).
However, that was the last time the Wildcats got past Marysville goalie Sean McGee.
Sheldon scored another goal in the remaining minutes of the third quarter.
He later assisted Best for another score at the top end of the fourth period.
As regulation drew to a close, the Monarchs picked up their fourth win of the season in six games.
McGee earned 13 saves while facing 32 shots from Northview.
In junior varsity action, MHS fell 4-2.
Both Monarch jayvee goals were credited to Nicholas Cavinee.
Assists came from Matt Hoyt and Garrett McHenry.
Maddox Barker recorded 11 saves and Saxton Bond added four.
“We are going to have to keep the same mindset,” Best said ahead of the team going into conference play. “If we have the same mindset, we can put up a good game.”
Marysville will host Strongsville on Friday at 7 p.m.
“I think we need to slow the ball down a little bit more on offense and just try to control the clock,” B. McGee said.
Head coach Chris Alessi was unavailable for comments after the game.