Boys Lacrosse Beats Salisbury for First Time in 17 Years
The Loomis Chaffee boys varsity lacrosse team defeated Salisbury 10-8 on the road on Saturday, March 30, the first time the Pelican team has beaten Salisbury since 2007.
Loomis was not deterred by Salisbury's perennial prominence in the region nor by the Knights' No. 12 ranking in the country in the preseason power rankings according to Inside Lacrosse.
The Pelicans played with intensity from the first whistle, jumping out to a 3-0 lead with goals from senior Brendan Johnson, senior Nate Cobery, and junior Anthony Rodriguez. Salisbury answered, though, scoring back-to-back goals to end the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Loomis, with the Pelicans building their lead to 6-2 by halftime. In one of the highlights of the second quarter, junior Gennaro Pompano put the ball through the goalie's legs to score the Pelicans' sixth goal of the game with less than a minute remaining in the half.
An all-out battle ensued in the second half. The Pelicans increased their lead to 8-2 early in the third quarter, but Salisbury responded with a 5-0 run to cut the Loomis lead down to one goal, with the score at 8-7.
Instead of caving when Salisbury had all the momentum, though, the Pelicans fought back. Cobery made the lead 9-7 on a beautiful move that ended with the ball in the top right corner of the goal. Salisbury scored again to narrow the Loomis lead to one goal, but senior Eli Velepec quickly answered, picking up a deflected shot and putting it in for the Pelicans' 10th goal.
Lockdown defense for the remainder of the game kept the score at 10-8 as the final buzzer sounded to give Loomis the win over Salisbury.
Next up for the team is a home contest against Trinity-Pawling on Wednesday, April 3, at 4 p.m. on Pratt Field.