Oak Hall Boy’s Lacrosse Completes Gainesville-Area Sweep, defeating Eastside 14-2

@OakHallLacrosse wins 14-2 over @Rams__Lax. With this win, the Eagles finish their season sweep of Gainesville-area teams. @ESPNGainesville. pic.twitter.com/mQ7ZNiNSs7

— Steven Walker (@steven_w7) March 13, 2019

The Oak Hall boy’s lacrosse team extends its perfect streak against Gainesville-area schools to eight straight games with their win over Eastside High School, 14-2.

With this win, the Eagles advance to 7-2, while the Rams fall to 1-5.  This season Oak Hall defeated Gainesville High School 19-1 and Buchholz High School 15-4 on top of their win tonight against Eastside High School to complete the sweep.

It’s the Oak Hall standard. “We take great pride in trying to be the best team that we can be, and it starts with Gainesville.” – Oak Hall Coach Montes

University of North Carolina lacrosse commit Ryan O’Leary led all scorers with three goals and two assists, all of which came in the first quarter. O’Leary’s performance played a pivotal role in the Eagle’s quick 6-0 lead.

Out-manned and out-gunned

@OakHallLacrosse leads @Rams__Lax 9-1 at halftime. EHS #16 Sam Long gets the Rams on the board before the half. @ESPNGainesville. pic.twitter.com/SI7Fnfvped

— Steven Walker (@steven_w7) March 12, 2019

Eastside fielded only 14 players this game, meaning that there were only four reserve players to give their starters rest. The only Eastside goals scored were by Sam Long and Sheldon Hardy, who scored in the second and third quarters respectively.

While early in the game the Rams may have been able to keep pace, their lack of substitutes played a role in the amazing difference in shots taken between the Eagles and Rams. Oak Hall shot an astounding 42 times, as opposed to Eastside’s 12 shots on goal.

Fatigue played a role late in this game, as Rams players struggled to clear the ball after forced turnovers. Consistently, Eastside would force a turnover only to immediately turn the ball over when trying to clear.

Emotions lead to scrappy play

@OakHallLacrosse leads @Rams__Lax 12-2 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Things are getting scrappy! @ESPNGainesville. pic.twitter.com/htkCLw8NGA

— Steven Walker (@steven_w7) March 13, 2019

Emotions can run high, especially in a local match up. Knowing that the other team is just down the road, and many players on different teams know one another can make things chippy.

Late in the game, both teams committed penalties at a high rate. Oak Hall started the fourth quarter of the game with two men in the penalty box, but the Eagles were able to recover even with a two-man disadvantage.

When asked about his game plan with two men in the penalty box, Oak Hall’s Montes said his team was going to stay positive.

“We try to stay tight and force them to take shots on our goalies. We just stay positive. We’re going to kill the penalty, if not we’re going to make the save and clear the ball,” he said.

However, when Eastside entered the penalty box Oak Hall capitalized. Within seconds the Eagles found the open shooter and scored, releasing the penalty.

Things would cool down as Oak Hall put more of their reserves in, and the mercy-rule running clock began with eight minutes left in the game.

Looking forward

Eastside High School plays Buchholz on March 20.

Oak Hall plays West Florida (Pensacola) on Friday.