VANCOUVER, B.C. – In the first playoff game in program history, #20 Argo lacrosse defeated defending PNCLL champions, #25 Southern Oregon, 12-9 to move on to the league semifinals. UGF gave up the first goal of the game, but took a lead five minutes into the first quarter and never let go.
"It was awesome. It got a little tense at the end, and honestly, I don't think we played that well, but every time they scored, we answered," UGF Head Coach
Fred Boekel said. "There were some crazy things that happened at the end of the game, but I felt like we really controlled things the whole way."
Southern Oregon's leading scorer, Connor Mason, scored the game's first goal, less than two minutes after the opening faceoff. During UGF's current six game winning streak, going down 1-0 has been both familiar, and a sign of good things to come.
That held true as the Argos scored the next two goals to take a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. SOU answered by scoring 2 of the next 3 goals, but UGF rallied off 3 straight goals to take a confident 6-3 lead into halftime.
UGF's first half offense, while maybe not quite as effective as Boekel would have liked was balanced and unselfish. Half of the team's first half goals came with assists attached and five different players scored in the 30 minutes of play.
"At the beginning of the season if we had scored 12 goals against a team like this, it would have been extraordinary," Boekel said. "By this point of time, we've gotten used to having some success and even though we felt like we weren't playing that well, we were still putting points up on the board."
The only player to score twice for UGF in the first half was junior
Josh Smith. The team's leading scorer was apparently just getting started because he completely took over the second half. He started the third quarter with the period's first goal, his third of the game, extending UGF lead to 4.
He then scored 4 goals in less than three minutes during a 4-1 Argo run in the fourth quarter that put UGF up 12-6 with just under six minutes left in the game.
"What's funny with Josh is, I'm looking at the stats for the first time right now and thinking 'holy crap, I didn't know he had that many,'" Boekel said. "Of those 7 goals, only 2 or 3 were him driving the ball by himself, the rest was a teammate finding him and maybe him dodging one guy before he could shoot and score."
After Smith's scoring spree is when things got more interesting than Boekel would've liked. Using a 5-8 fourth quarter advantage at the faceoff X, the Raiders went on a comeback rally in the final few minutes. Three straight scores, including a shot that hit an Argo defender square in the back and then bounced into the UGF net, made what could have been a blowout into a 3 goal game with a minute and a half left.
UGF fended off the rest of the Raider advances, to complete a stellar defensive effort against a team that averages 12 goals per game. What was particularly impressive about UGF's defensive performance was how good the unit was when face with man-down situations.
Throughout the second half of the 2017 season, the Argo defense established itself as one of the best units in the MCLA. The best way to disintegrate a good defense, however, is usually to put them in the penalty box. Southern Oregon did that to great effect, baiting the Argos into eight minutes of total penalty time.
That didn't seem to matter to UGF, who held the Raiders to just 1 goal in 12 extra man opportunities, including one stretch that saw four Argo players in the box at the same time.
"That was unbelievable. Those guys worked so hard on that man down, to be able to get the ball on the ground, pick it up, and get it down the field to kill some time," Boekel said. "They were really working their tails off."
Smith was the clear workhorse of the offense, setting season high and coming one short of his career high, with 7 goals in the game. It was an efficient 7 goals too, coming off of just 9 shots.
UGF's second leading scorer, attack/defender
Chase Clark, spent a little more time on the defensive side slowing down SOU's talented attack, but still managed to have an impact on both sides of the field. He led the team with 2 assists, and added 1 goal, while also leading the defense with 6 caused turnovers and 7 ground balls.
The Argos also benefited from another fine performance at the faceoff X from freshman
Dante Duran. The midfielder went 10-17 on faceoffs.
The win advances UGF to the PNCLL semifinals but there is more at stake a spot in the league finals and a potential automatic bid to the MCLA National Tournament. The Argo's semifinal opponent will be state rival, #23 University of Montana, the last team to beat UGF.
The Griz beat the Argos on March 31 in a 14-5 drubbing as part of the annual Copper Cup. That loss was the turning point of UGF's season, rallying off six straight wins after. The Argos have never beat Montana. That game will be played at 2:00 p.m. MDT on Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, B.C.
