The style of play for Culver City High School’s lacrosse team became more physical last week as the varsity traveled to Redondo Beach and met up with a contentious and determined Seahawk squad.
Redondo’s repetitious stick-checking and midfield contact served them well as they disrupted the Centaur attack and held them hostage on the perimeter.
The Culver defense was sluggish, allowing easy turnover goals as the teams settled into a 4-4 tie at the half.
In the third quarter,a different Culver City team emerged, determined to take control and assert dominance.
After allowing a quick Seahawk score, Phillip Beer repelled every Redondo shot for the rest of the game.
Inspired by his unyielding stand, the Centaur defense systematically shut down the Redondo attack. Andrew Baird, Marcel Marchena, Luke Medina, and Jonathan Jackson forced the attack outside and goalie Beer was able to focus on the long shots, stopping them at the mouth of the goal.
With the defense back on track, the Centaurs went on an offensive run. Andy Campos scored 4 goals in the game with an assist. Jason Mair had 2 and 2 assists, with various others scoring throughout the contest.
Two of the more interesting goals occurred in the fourth quarter.
After a timeout on the field, the officials signaled for the players to face off. With Culver in position, the Redondo coach held his team in huddle too long and the inevitable whistle created an unopposed face-off that middie Oscar Lopez scooped up and deposited into the empty net.
Alex Kurihara, sent in to create a disturbance in front of the Seahawk goalie, was crisscrossing in front of the net when a shot fired from the top of the box hit him squarely in the small of his back. It deflected into the net for his first goal of the season, a fitting end to a 12-5 Centaur victory.
The Ending Was Grim
Last Thursday night, the boys were back home, facing a large and menacing squad from Downey.
The constantly moving, sure-passing visitors hammered the Culver goal as they created openings and scoring chances. Phillip Beer, ever the consistent Centaur goalie, stopped several shots but soon became overwhelmed by too many point-blank opportunities.
The Centaurs had a much more difficult time getting to the net. The Viking defense, for the most part, kept them from penetrating. When they did, Downey’s large but nimble goalie blocked most of their shots and preserved a 6-3 victory for the Vikings.
Currently on spring break, the Culver varsity will return with a home match a week from Tuesday, on April 21, to face off against Palos Verdes at 6 p.m.
Fans new to lacrosse, and regulars, are invited to come out and catch the action as the regular season winds down leading to the playoffs in early May.
