The last time the seniors from the Clarkston High School varsity lacrosse team walked off the field they left with a sour taste in their mouths.
Somber faces, tears and mud-stained jerseys were left after the Wolves played their final home game of the year and lost a 13-12 heartbreaking nail biter May 19 at the Clarkston High School varsity soccer field.
It was senior night, with the soon-to-be graduates of Clarkston High School being celebrated at halftime and escorted through a tunnel made of other lacrosse players with their parents. But for these seniors, the last 91 seconds took them through a roller coaster of emotions, but ended with a late-game score by Flint Powers with a mere 11 seconds left on the clock.
The Wolves trailed 8-7 at the half and then allowed the first two goals of the third quarter. Towards the end of the senior night ceremony players from Flint Powers grew tired of watching the ceremony and yelled, ‘Let’s rain on their parade!?
But the Wolves showed resilience and cut the deficit to 12-10 Flint Powers on a goal from John Williams with 3:36 remaining. Two more late game tallies tied the score at 12 with 1:08 remaining, but the Wolves? defense allowed too many scoring opportunities late and Flint Powers scored the game winner, getting it past goalie Tony Cocciolone, who has been a solid contributor in net all season for the Wolves.
However, even with only 11 seconds remaining the Wolves still had an outside chance. The referees had to report at the scorer’s table for a conference regarding a controversial Flint Powers goal only minutes before. The goal, which made it 12-11 Flint Powers was scored by a player who was not in the Clarkston score book, which is supposed to have the names and numbers of all participating players. He was listed in the Flint Powers book and listed in all games previous to this match with Clarkston. However, Clarkston book keepers noted that the player must have been added to the Flint Powers book’s roster after a copy of the Flint Powers roster was given to the Wolves. Both coaches were brought to the scorer’s table and the referees explained the situation to both teams and the goal stood. Should Clarkston elect to challenge the ruling, it would take an appeal by both Clarkston head coach Ken Martin and Clarkston Athletic Director Dan Fife. Martin said after the game he did not plan on pursuing the issue.
‘I told them (after the game) that defense, individual defense seems to be our weakest link right now,? Martin said. ‘We need to contain the guys away from the net. That’s where our problem is right now. We have a good offense and got good pressure. We just can’t seem to get the man contained to the outside of the net.?
The Wolves got several goals from senior Kyle Sickman. Other seniors on the team are Cam Darrow, Chad Bennett, Todd Merz, Ryan Elliot and Matt McCallum. The Wolves also got goals from players not known for their offense, Martin said, including Brett Shader and David Lawrence.
‘We had real good efforts from a lot of people, it’s just that we came up short on defense and that’s something we’ll have to work on in the future. When he go into the playoffs, that’s something we’ll really have to focus on,? Martin said.
The loss dropped Clarkston’s record to 8-5. Two games, which were cancelled due to weather, might not be made up because they were both away games, Martin said. Playoff sites and times were not available at press time.