Boys lacrosse continues undefeated season

On Wed., March 15, the Samo boys lacrosse team continued their undefeated season by beating Culver City High School 11-7.While warming up, Culver City attempted to intimidate Samo by loudly chanting their school name, but Samo did not tremble. Although Samo started rocky by almost conceding a goal and turning over the ball, they quickly gained possession and thanks to a long-distance goal, the team edged ahead.The first quarter continued very balanced with both teams getting opportunities to score. Finally, Samo broke a long goalless period a minute before the end of the quarter and Samo was able to make it 3-0 with a goal five seconds before the end of the quarter. “At the beginning of the game, we were able to play with a lot of fluidity,” defender Kyle Atwater (’18) said.However, shortly into the second quarter, the opponents managed to get a goal back. After that though, Samo dominated but due to a couple turnovers, were unable to score. Later, the team benefited from a chaotic fight for the ball of which team captain Parker Furlong (’17) came out victorious to make it 4-1. Although Culver City attempted to score before half-time, the scoreline remained. “We are just clicking,” Furlong said. “We are playing together, having a good time and winning games. When one of us has a bad game, everyone else can pick up the slack.”Coming back from half-time, Culver City managed to score some goals. Although their offense seemed to flourish, Samo also thrived in offense and were able to maintain their lead. In the fourth quarter, both goalies came in big with some crucial saves, but at the end of the game, Samo consolidated their lead thanks to late goals by Kyle Kennedy (’17) and Nico Balderrama (’17). “Anytime you play a league game, it comes down to who wants it more,” coach Ben Keiser said. “We mixed it up and won the groundball battle. We put the ball in the net when we needed to and our defense, anchored by Sophomore goalie Tyson Zecher, came up with the stops we needed. It was a great team effort.”This win gives Samo an impressive 7-0 season record and provides a good start to league with a win against one of the stronger teams. The Samo boys lacrosse team won their next away game on Fri., March 17 against El Segundo High School by a score of 9-8.