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Drip Lacrosse took the field Wednesday night after a week off from their victory over Lake Travis. If fans came looking for a repeat of the 2021 back and forth game that ended with a Drip tie breaker in the waning seconds, they would be in for a treat. Also in attendance, were some new fans. The lacrosse players recognized 22 teachers who have made a lasting impact on them prior to the game.
In a repeat of the 2021 game, there were 10 ties and 5 lead changes in the game. Ryan Wyrick got things started for Westwood with his first of his 5 goals on the night. After another Warrior goal, Jack Tanner and Aiden Kane knotted things back up at 2 for the Tigers. Westwood led 3-2 at the end of the first, and the Tigers behind three 2nd quarter game tying goals from Connor Krystof, Ryan Williamson and Tanner would trail at the half 6-5. The intensity built in the 2nd half with Drip adding 5 goals and finding themselves tied at 10 moving into the 4th quarter. Behind two more Wyrick goals, Westwood stretched to their largest lead of the night at 12-10.
Down 2 with 5 minutes remaining, Drip was saddled with a two minute locked in penalty. Early in the possession, Jonah Friedman forced the Westwood throw away. Drip ran down the 80 second shot clock and Connor Krystof scored with 3 secs remaining on the shot clock. With the penalty locked in, the Tigers were still short a man, but Owen Rhodes won the faceoff and came up with the ball, like he did 15 other times on the night. The Tigers held possession, drained the remaining penalty time and Kane found Brendan Linan who scored the behind the back goal to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the four minute, sudden death overtime, Westwood came up with the faceoff possession and quickly advanced the ball for a shot. Kaiden Grupp denied them on the top shelf shot and the Tiger offense took over. Working the ball around the Westwood zone defense, Drip patiently waited for the opening where Kane found Tanner for the game-winner. The final tally was 13-12 with a Drip win.
The Tigers traveled to Houston for the weekend for a two-step. They started things off with Kinkaid on Saturday. Kinkaid jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first. They maintained the two goal lead for most of the game, leading 10-8 at the half and 13-11 at the end of the third period. Drip was able to close the gap and tie it at 14, before giving up the final two goals of the day to take the 16- 14 loss. Drip was led offensively by Aiden Kane with 6 goals and 3 assists, his highest scoring game of the season. On the defensive side of the field, Kooper Brown was given the second half task of preventing Kinkaid’s leading first half scorer from getting the ball. Owen Rhodes picked up the hammer for his 20 faceoff wins and 13 ground balls. Grupp had 10 saves in the cage. Tanner, Krystof and Brett Williamson each picked up two goals, with Linan and Kyle Parker each chipping in one. Cody Smith and Keller Stafford each scooped up 4 ground balls.
On Sunday, the Tigers battled with Strake Jesuit before returning to Dripping Springs. In a tight, back and forth first half, Drip had seven different players get in the scoring column to lead 8-7 at the half. After, giving up the tying goal early in the third, Drip then rattled off 3 quick goals in less than a minute to extend their lead, including 2 back to back from Rhodes. They carried an 11-8 lead into the 4th. Each team added 4 goals in the final quarter and the Tigers notched an 15-12 victory.
Rhodes kept the face-off train rolling, winning 19 of his 26 faceoff attempts and collecting a team high 23 ground balls. Kane played the role of quarterback, dishing out 4 assists to go with his 3 goals. Tanner also picked up a hat trick in the game, followed by Krystof and Rhodes with their two goals. Linan, Parker and the Williamson brothers each added a goal and Stafford broke away for a pole goal. Defensively, Cody Smith took the hammer for his leadership. Drip next takes the field at home against Westlake on Thursday, March 31st at 8:15pm. Admission is free.
