With a dominant 2017 regular season, it looks like this could be the year the Wauwatosa boys lacrosse team finally would shake off its state title drought and officially join the elite programs in Wisconsin. After a resounding 17-12 victory over perennial powerhouse Hudson Sunday evening to advance to the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation semifinals, there’s no doubt the Blazers are on a mission to rewrite their reputation as an “also-ran.”
“It feels like this is the year for Tosa, so there’s a bit of pressure,” Tosa senior middie Jacob Cieszynski said. “But, we’re confident in what we can do, and it think we’re going to play to our potential.”
Wauwatosa (18-2) beat Hudson (13-6) via the faceoff, winning 29-of-33 matchups primarily with Cieszynski as the middie charged with grabbing possession after possession. The Blazers essentially played keep away with Hudson from there, building a 7-1 lead at 8 minutes, 34 seconds in the second quarter and never looking back.
“When Jake wins faceoffs, that helps us a ton,” Tosa senior attack Kevin Maxey said. “If we can get the possession on faceoffs 80 percent of the time, that really helps us keep the ball on our side of the field and kills their offense.”
Maxey led the Tosa offense with seven goals and three assists, and senior attack Casey Hagaman added four goals. Cieszynski scored three goals and chipped in two assists. Between the pipes, senior goalie Roman Myse saved nine shots for the Blazers.
Although Wauwatosa led by as many as nine goals in the third quarter, Hudson never threw in the towel. The Raiders managed to crawl back to within six goals with 8:24 left in the fourth quarter on sophomore middie Joe Murray’s second goal of the game, but that would be as close as the Raiders would get for the remainder of the game.
“We got down quick and we got down early, but we battled back, so I’m proud of my guys,” Hudson coach Jake Johnson said. “We got heart, but there was a lot of talent on their side of the ball.”
Hudson junior middie Conner Cole led the Raider offense with four goals. Senior attack Tanner Gornick contributed three goals, and sophomore attack Cole Danielson scored twice, as well.
Despite the bittersweet realization that Hudson’s senior captain triumvirate of Gornick, Nick Holter and Jake Gabrielson is moving on, Johnson is excited to see what the future holds for his Raiders. With 10 sophomores and six freshmen returning in 2018, this group has a lot of potential.
Wauwatosa, on the other hand, has earned a matchup with defending state champion Kettle Moraine on Wednesday night with a berth in the state title game on the line. Considering many of the Blazers’ seniors have been together since the eighth grade, Tosa coach Robin Buckley believes his squad has all the pieces in place to finally bring home the WLF hardware.
“The parents are behind the team and the coaches are behind the team, and we are trying to give them as many opportunities to be successful as possible,” Buckley said. “Hopefully, this will be their year.”
