WALES – Saturday’s Class C state quarterfinal boys lacrosse game was déjà vu for second-seeded Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon and seventh-seeded Saint Dominic Academy.
The Raiders defeated the Saints 20-1, which was the same score as the teams’ regular season meeting played at St. Dom’s.
The win propels Oak Hill (12-0) to the state semifinals against third-seeded Wells (10-4) on Wednesday.
Tiger Hopkins scored six goals and dished out two assists Saturday to set a new school record for points in a season with 99 (58 goals and 41 assists). The previous record was 98 points, set in 1993 by Jeremy Trainer, who played at the school from 1989-93.
Hopkins said the Raiders did the little things to get going offensively.
“I think we played well, at the faceoff and (around the crease), we kind of won the ground ball battle,” Hopkins said. “It was a lot of hard work from guys who have been working hard all season.”
The Saints (5-8) for the second straight game played with only 10 players and had no subs.
“We had a lot of ups and downs (this season), playing this game with 10 guys, it’s impossible,” St. Dom’s coach Tim Matteson said. “I asked them to do something no team can do, and we did it two games in a row with one day off in between (games). That’s a good team, (Oak Hill) has a lot of skill. Tiger is a phenomenal player, Travis (Caron) is a tough kid to guard. The kids played hard, they battled and all I can say is I am proud.”
Riley Worth had four goals and had five assists for Oak Hill. He started the scoring for the Raiders with two goals and an assist on one by Ryan Foster, which made it 3-0 in the first quarter.
Worth said the Raiders are at their best when they grab an early lead.
“I think we are a momentum team,” Worth said. “I think it’s that first few goals that get us going. I think we were sleepy the first few minutes, but we turned up the intensity with a bunch of goals. I think the assists really stood out today, no one was selfish, we moved the ball really well. That what gave us the momentum.”
The Raiders had assists on 11 of their 20 goals.
Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon’s Travis Caron stretched the lead to 4-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Saints scored their only goal late in the first quarter when Lucas Pushard’s shot found the back of the net.
While it was the second time St. Dom’s lost to the Oak Hill 20-1 this season, Mattson thought the Saints competed better Saturday.
“That was probably our worst day of the year honestly,” Matteson said of the regular season matchup. “Today was a different game. It ended up being 20-1 again, but I don’t think it was indicative of how we played.”
Matteson said that he thought the Saints possessed the ball better but the lack of substitutes led to fatigue that was difficult to overcome.
Hopkins stretched the lead to 5-1 by the end the first quarter.
Gavin Leet scored three goals in the second quarter, while Hopkins and Worth each added one to send Oak Hill into halftime with a 10-1 cushion.
The Saints held the Raiders scoreless for the final six minutes of the second quarter.
Oak Hill spread the ball around in the third quarter, and Hopkins scored two goals while Caleb Richard, Foster and Leet tallied one apiece to make it 15-1 after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Hopkins scored two goals and Caron, Worth and Leet each had one.
Oak Hill coach Joey Hinkley was glad everyone on his team came out of the game healthy.
“We got out injury-free, so everybody can play the next game, that’s the biggest thing for me, in a lot of games like this, score-wise,” Hinkley said. “Faceoff-wise, Gavin was killing it on faceoffs, which was a big part of (our success).”
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