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Not only did Final Four fans descend on Houston this past weekend, but the Dripping Springs High School lacrosse team made the trip as well.
The Drip Wolfpack made a two-day road trip with stops in the Woodlands and Cypress. On the schedule first on Saturday, April 1 was an afternoon matchup with The Woodlands High School’s Highlanders.
Drip got out to a quick start when senior captain Walker Wright ripped a low shot from outside just under two minutes into the game. The Woodlands would answer before another Drip goal — when freshman Jake Stockton found Brady Taylor just off the crease. Aiden Kane followed this up with a power move and goal. The Highlanders tied the game shortly after, before Stockton assisted Noah Chomout for a top shelf goal. After one quarter, the game was tied up at four.
The Woodlands exploded for nine secondquarter goals. The lone Dripping Springs goal came when Connor Krystof found Wright peeling around a defender for a goal. Down 13-5 at the half, the Wolfpack tried to settle things down. The third quarter began with Krystof again finding Wright, who found himself open for an outside heater and goal. Late in the quarter, Kyle Parker drove, dodged defenders and scored to cut the lead to 13-7 after three quarters. The Drip defense and goalie John Ault held the Highlanders scoreless in the third. Parker scored quickly in the fourth off of an assist from Kane on the crease. Lucas Willingham picked up the final goal for Dripping Springs as the team fell 17-10. Wright received the hammer for the game.
Sunday, April 2, the Drip team took on Cypress Woods High School. Cypress brought a 9-3 record into the game and jumped out to a three-goal lead midway through the first quarter. Drip answered with a goal from Stockton, followed by a nice find from Krystof to a slashing Wright for the second goal. Cypress picked up three more goals before Parker netted one in the final seconds of the quarter. Trailing 6-3 going into the second quarter, Drip fought back. Kane drove from the X and whipped a side-armed shot high for a goal, finding Krystof, who dodged and found the five hole with an underhanded shot. Kane then assisted Parker for a goal to close the gap to two. Finally, just before half, Kane found a defender sleeping, peeled around the crease and hit the top pipe for a goal. Drip closed it to 8-7 at the half.
Cypress responded in the third with two goals before Krystof again assisted Wright for the goal. Kane followed with two goals of his own to tie the game at 10 going to the fourth quarter. Just over a minute into the quarter, Cypress regained the lead. A few minutes later, Taylor drove on a defender, absorbed a big blow and delivered a soft pass to a cutting Parker who dunked one over the right shoulder of the goalie to tie it back up. The defense locked things down for Dripping Springs. Jonah Friedman and Nate Tyo each forced big turnovers in the final quarter. Tyo scooped up the ball, pressed down the field and, after showcasing a pirouette and a couple dipsy-do’s, got the ball down to the offense. Drip had a couple of other scoring opportunities but ended regulation with the game knotted at 11.
The sudden death overtime period began with an Owen Rhodes faceoff win, his 23rd of the day, which earned him the hammer. Rhodes carried the ball down and fired a shot. Parker retained possession and moved the ball around with the team firing a few more shots, but none that found the back of the net. On the final save, the Cypress goalie quickly moved the ball up the field, and on a fast break, they were able to find an opening and grab the winning goal and move to 10-3 on the season. Rhodes with 13 and Willingham with four, led the team in ground balls. Ault had five saves in goal, and Kaiden Grupp recorded six saves.
Drip returns home this Thursday, April 6 to play Boerne High School at 7:30 p.m.
