By Jason Goorman
Local Sports Journal
GRAND HAVEN: For the first 18 minutes of Saturday night’s conclusion to LaxFest 2014, Grand Haven looked like it was going to succumb to Spring Lake.
The Bucs had fallen behind 3-0 to a gritty Laker squad who was getting good bounces and controlling possession after possession.
Trevor McNamara
But that was all before Trevor McNamara took over for Grand Haven and led the Bucs to a 8-5 win over Spring Lake to win the Grand River Rivalry.
The senior attacker/midfielder McNamara, scored three straight goals in just under two minutes to tie the score at 3 in the second quarter.
Grand Haven took a 4-3 lead into halftime off a Nathaniel Hentschel goal.
McNamara finished with five goals and an assist to cap a day where there were seven Lacrosse games played between the two schools from grades 3-12. The first contest started at 9:30 a.m. and the event was finished with the top game in front of 500 fans.
With the momentum switch just before halftime, the Bucs focused their offensive possessions.
Grand Haven took a 7-3 lead by the end of the third quarter from a pair of goals by Jared VanOordt and another McNamara attack. The Bucs ran set play after play in front of Spring Lake goalie Drew Carey.
“Getting involved in our offensive sets was the key tonight,” said Grand Haven coach Murle Greer. “We were running a designed offense for the first time this year that really got us some good looks on goal,”
Trevor McNamara controls the ball as Spring Lake’s Tyler Strandberg looks to defend. Photo/Jason Goorman
Spring Lake’s offense came out with an early fire and was rewarded by a Zachary Montgomery goal with 5:44 left in the first quarter. Montgomery wove his way through the Grand Haven defense to sneak a shot past Grand Haven goalie Gabe Liebetreu.
Michael Tomaszczyk followed up a minute later with a goal off a wrist shot from 17 yards out. Alec Palmer put the Lakes up 3-0 to start the second quarter on a play where he split the Bucs defense to get wide open in front of the net.
It was Grand Haven’s defense that came through after the Laker’s third goal, keeping up on loose balls to hold Spring Lake to a minimum on shots. Ryan Maguire picked 12 loose balls for the Bucs.
“After their third goal, we made adjustments,” said Greer. “We moved to a zone to hold them out and we communicated more on defense.”
The Lakers added fourth quarter goals from Zachary Montgomery and Tucker Jenerou.
Look for video highlights from the action Monday morning.
