If the 2018 boys lacrosse season has showed us anything, it’s that Middleton knows how to close out a campaign. On Tuesday night, the Cardinals also showed they could close out a game, as well.
Middleton used a four-goal fourth quarter to defeat Sauk Prairie, 9-7. The Cardinals now take a five-game winning streak into the Badgerland Conference tournament.
“Momentum is a huge thing, especially in the game of lacrosse,” said Reed Kochan, Middleton’s junior goalie who had a number of impressive saves behind a staunch Cardinals’ defense. “We have this momentum going into the playoffs, which really helps our chase for a state title. We’re pushing a lot harder now.”
Middleton and Sauk Prairie were tied at four heading into halftime, and both defenses settled in during a mostly scoreless third quarter. The Cardinals finally broke through with the first goal of the second half when senior middie Jake Hoskins scored with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third to give Middleton (6-5, 3-4 Badgerland Conference) a 5-4 lead.
“They like to backdoor cut a lot, so as soon as a defender’s head moves, they’ll make that back cut,” Middleton coach Sandford Erdahl said. “We did a really good job defending it.”
Sauk Prairie (11-4, 3-2) tied the game again at five when junior middie Ben Rashid scored with 10:36 left to play. Middleton responded with four unanswered goals to take the lead. Three of those goals came in a span of 39 seconds, with junior attack Ayden Henderson depositing two of his game-high three goals during that stretch.
“I think the offense started out slow, but once we started getting better looks and taking better shots, we really picked it up,” Henderson said.
The Eagles kept the game close in the fourth quarter after the Cardinals made their run. Rashid scored again with 5:13 left to play, and sophomore middie Riley Jelinek brought Sauk Prairie within two goals with 3:16 to go. But that would be all the scoring for the Eagles, who were stopped short of their season average of 10 goals by the Middleton defense.
“I thought we played really competitively throughout the first half and third quarter,” Sauk Prairie coach Dylan Baier said. “But we’re a really young team, and these guys haven’t faced a lot of adversity yet.”
Middleton and Sauk Prairie will start the Badgerland Conference tournament Thursday evening.
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