Anyone still doubting the rapid growth the sport of lacrosse is experiencing throughout Wisconsin need look no further for evidence than Thursday night’s Bay Valley Conference matchup between Appleton United and Neenah.
Spectrum Sports was on hand to broadcast its first live lacrosse game in a handful of years at the Banta Bowl on Lawrence University’s campus — all for a regular-season opening game. Fans who braved the cold as well as those who kept cozy at home were treated to a bruising 6-5 Appleton United victory.
“It never seems to matter what our records are or what time of the season it is – it’s always a close game with these guys,” Appleton coach Eric Marsh said. “Whenever you can come out on top in this one, it is a good thing.”
Both teams showed signs of rust due to the difficult weather forcing the cancellations of outdoor practices and and games, turning the 2017 Bay Valley Conference championship rematch into a physical, defensive struggle for most of the game. Appleton (2-0, 2-0 Bay Valley) jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter with help from two unassisted goals from senior middie Erik Horman.
Appleton extended its lead to 4-1 early in the second quarter when freshman middie Nate Htwe found sophomore attack Andrew Schermerhorn for a goal with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left in the half. But Neenah (0-2, 0-1) responded with three unanswered goals to tie the game, with junior attack Nathan Bezier scoring unassisted at 5:54 at 5:54 in the second quarter and putting away a pass from from senior middie David Oyler with 3:08 left to play in the third.
Appleton pulled away later in the third when it scored two unassisted goals in the in 94 seconds. Senior Brian Hass put one away at 2:31, and freshman middie Dylon Stockman took the ball the length of the field to score the eventual game-winner with 57 seconds left in the third.
Neenah would pull within one in the fourth and forced a number of turnovers in the remaining 5 minutes to give Appleton everything it could handle. But the Appleton defense and sophomore goalie Quinn Kroon stood up to the challenge to beat the defending conference champs.
“We threw the ball away a little bit on offense, but the defense was solid,” Kroon said. “You can’t ask for a better group of guys in front of me.”
Despite taking the loss, Neenah coach Paul Zielski liked what he saw from the Rockets as they start their campaign to repeat as conference champs.
“Tonight, we worked out some kinks,” he said. “It’s one game, and it’s still going to be a great season.”
Appleton’s trip to Hudson has been cancelled due to the forecast predicting bad weather, so the team’s next game is April 21 vs. D.C. Everest. Neenah heads to D.C. Everest on Tuesday.
Each week WisconsinLacrosse.com will highlight a select game from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Amplify Lacrosse.
