Junior Reid Kaminski started the celebration after the Notre Dame Prep game on Sunday as he led the Wolves in singing “Sweet Caroline.”
The Clarkston Boys Varsity Lacrosse team finished the game after a powerful fourth quarter as they took the win from the Notre Dame, 15-7.
“It was a revenge game,” said Evan Kneisel, senior defender. “We had high hopes for this game.”
The boys finished the first quarter tied 2-2 after a goal from Kaminski. Notre Dame came back to score three goals to take the lead within the first five minutes.
“We walked in flat and said we can’t do this because it was a home game and one of our goals is to go undefeated at home,” said Kneisel. “It was definitey a big pushing factor.”
The Wolves closed in with a goal from sophomore Andrew Williamson with five minutes left in the first half.
With 27 seconds left, they tied the score with a goal off junior Connor Dziewit’s swing into the net.
“We talked at half time and said we are going to break this down into six minute increments,” said Brian Kaminskas, head coach. “We said at half time if you play the first six minutes the way you are supposed to play you will win the game. After they got through those first six minutes then the next, they started to realize it and believe it was not a difficult game in front of them.”
It began the momentum in the second half as they pulled into the lead during the third quarter, finishing with a 7-5 lead.
“We started out pretty cold but the last quarter we stepped it up,” said junior goalie Jake Hendricks.
The Wolves outscored Notre Dame 8-2 in the final quarter. The scoring began after Notre Dame’s Kyle Beauregard tied the score with 8:37 left in the game.
Senior Jordan Moore caught a long pass and passed the ball onto senior Kyle O’Grady 34 seconds later.
O’Grady struck again less than a minute later, this time he passed the ball to Dziewit for his goal.
“It was awesome,” Kneisel said. “It got the momentum going. Everyone on the bench was cheering. Defense was cheering.”
Hendricks added it especially helped him as he was in the net.
“I could see the ball a lot better,” he said. “It feels awesome to stop them.”
“We started out slow but we stuck to it and we adjusted our game plan,” said head coach, Brian Kaminskas. “It’s always nice to get a win off Notre Dame. They have one of the coaching legends over there. It’s good to play against him and beat him. I thought they played well.”
Junior Connor Ward led the team with four goals. Dziewit scored three goals and had three assists. O’Grady had three goals and two assists.
“Kyle and Connor both had very nice games,” Kaminskas added. “As the game went on, the attack really came alive and did very well especially with Hendricks in goal.”
Kaminski scored two goals. Senior Jordan Moore and sophomore Austin Egler scored one goal each. Hendricks had 13 saves during the game.
The boys began the week against Troy Athens on Tuesday for their first OAA league game.
“They are always a tough rival,” said Kaminskas. “It’s going to be a tough week. This is the first time this year we are going to do game, practice, game, practice because of cancellations. We have to recover the body, recover the minds and get back at it.”
The Wolves head to Bloomfield United on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game and are home on Saturday when they host St. Francis High School, 2 p.m.