Warriors Fall Just Short on Senior Night

Box Score

Apr. 18, 2010

Cam Fuller, Matt Heintz, Michka Olhasque First Graduating Seniors

It was senior night at the Webb Football Stadium, and the fans came out to support the seniors in their last home game of their careers.  The game was a truly exciting one, but the Black and Red fell just short of pulling off a senior night upset over Conference 4 opponent Roxboro Community School, falling 5-4 in one of the most thrilling games of the year.

The first group of graduating seniors in Webb Lacrosse history were honored before the game: midfielder/face-off specialists Cameron Fuller and Michka Olhasque, and attacker Matt Heintz.  Then, the two teams set to do battle.  Webb drew first blood as junior Matt Knott drilled home a shot at 10:51 of the first period to make it 1-0 Webb, giving the Warriors the early lead.  The Warriors would hold this lead for almost 6 minutes before RCS’s Ryan Hutchins dropped in a shot from close range to even the score at 1-1 with a little less than 5 minutes to go in the opening period.  They would then score twice before the end of the 1st quarter, with Ben Darr sending one in at 3:10 and then Nate Sharpe with a minute and 14 seconds remaining.  The game would be relatively quiet for more than 8 minutes before “Bulldozer” Williams would bury a shot past RCS goalie Chip Isackson with less than five to go in the half to make it 3-2 Roxboro going into the half.

The game took a while to get going again scoring wise as Sharpe would score the second half’s first goal at 6:56 of the third period, taking an assist from number 43 (if anyone has the name of this player please contact the webmaster) and rocketing home a shot, but just a minute and  a half later it was Williams again, driving hard to the cage at 5:26 in the period to make the score 4-3.  The Bulldog and Warrior defenses would hold each opposing offense scoreless for more than 12 minutes, but the Bulldogs would break through with almost 5 minutes left in the game, as Justin Mosley did the honors this time, to make it 5-3.  However, the Warriors would not go down without a fight, as senior Michka Olhasque would send  home a shot with less than a minute to play, drawing the Black and Red within one.  The ensuing face-off would be won by the Warriors, but they would lose the ball and turn it over to RCS, who would run the clock out for the victory.

After the inspired effort from the Warriors, Coach Farabee had nothing but good things to say about the players and the fans.  “Tonight was simply a great lacrosse game between two evenly matched conference foes. The fans in attendance got to experience just how exciting lacrosse can be.  It is a special sport with a passion and emotion that is hard to match.  I am so proud of our young men for the way they have continued to work hard this year to improve and become better.  Christian Tilley and our defense were again strong, aggressive, and physical.  They have been the foundation of our team all year, and tonight was no different.  What has changed, however, is we are beginning to make strides offensively.  For the first time this year, we had numerous unsettled situations where we were in position to score from the crease. We certainly have a long way to go, but it is exciting to see our players begin to think like offensive lacrosse players, dodging for the shot, covering the far pipe to collect the rebound, crashing the crease on unsettled situations, etc.  I know the players were deeply disappointed with the loss, but they played smart and with great passion.  We simply have to move on, learn from this experience as we have from all the other games, and become a better team because of it.”

The game would not be without its scoring controversies, though, as two goals by Webb were called back.  ‘Dozer Williams had a third goal, which would have given him a hat trick on the evening and only the second in Webb lacrosse history, disallowed for a crease violation, sending the fans at the field into an uproar.  The other was called back on a questionable decision to stop play for a penalty flag by the officials.  After a slashing penalty by the Bulldogs, senior Matt Heintz would drive from the x up the side of the goal to the crease and put it home.  However, the officials decided the game should have stopped before the goal, causing the goal to be waived off.

Landon “Bulldozer” Williams of Webb and Nate Sharpe from RCS would lead all scorers with two goals apiece, while defensively for the Warriors, Christian Tilley continued making a name for himself, stopping 14 Bulldog shots, many of which again were on the doorstep.  Isackson, Tilley’s Roxboro counterpart, would make 12 saves on the night in an equally impressive performance.  Webb also dominated on face-offs, winning 9 of 13 on the night, with Cameron Fuller going 5-7 and Michka Olhasque going 4-6 on the evening.  The Warriors travel to Cedar Ridge Monday at 7 pm before finishing the season at Northern Durham on Tuesday, while the Bulldogs host Durham Riverside on Tuesday for senior night, before traveling to Durham Jordan, both Conference 4 opponents for Webb and Roxboro, on Friday to end out their season.