Three minutes remained in the game and Clarkston boys lacrosse team was faced with losing their lead.
Their opponent Utica Eisenhower had spent the entire second half catching up with the Wolves on the scoreboard.
As the clock ticked down to 2:38, Eisenhower tied the score, 8-8.
The Wolves knew what they had to do. They had to score one more goal and keep Eisenhower from making one more goal. They were up to the challenge.
Forbes Dever threw the ball into the net and won game for the Clarkston, 9-8.
‘I thought it was perfect. It was perfectly timed,? said Clarkston coach Brian Kaminskas. ‘We talked about holding onto the ball, and scoring when we had an opportunity and not rushing. That’s what he did. He took the time. He saw the lane, he took the lane and took a shot.?
Eisenhower began the game with a small lead of one point.
Jon Avery tied the score and made the first goal for the Wolves.
Forbes Dever and Andrew Miller continued the momentum and brought Clarkston into the lead. They made two more goals before the end of the quarter.
Matt McEntee and Andrew Schram scored two more before the second quarter ended, 5-1.
During half-time, Eisenhower had a few minutes to make some changes and go through plays to use against the Wolves. They came back to score seven goals in the next 22 minutes.
‘Eisenhower made some adjustments. They made some good ones,? said Kaminskas. ‘We came out a little flat, but we held on. We did alright. We came out when we needed to and made a goal. When we needed to get hold of the ball, we did that as well. We did a good job.?
After Dever made the last goal for the Wolves, the rest of the team pushed their defense up to keep Eisenhower from retaliating to tie the score again.
Dever was the leading scorer for the game with three goals.
‘He is a face off guy,? said Kaminskas. ‘He is a junior, which is nice, we have him for another year. He’s working hard. We brought him up as a freshman with a plan for him to be one of the leaders by the time he is a senior. Midway this year, he just stepped up and started taking on a lot of ownership.?
Avery and McEntee had two goals to help lead the team to their overall record, 3-5.
This week the boys played Troy on Tuesday.
Boys will travel to face rivals Lake Orion on Thursday. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.
The boys host Plymouth on Saturday. JV begins at 12 p.m., varsity follows.