On Thursday the 28th, the Boys Lacrosse game against rival Mountian View started off as a nice spring night but got colder as the wind picked up and the sunset.  At the beginning of the game, the Eagles held strong and their offense was tight. 

 As the game went on, Mountain View scored the first point of the game. Forge didn’t let that defeat them and they knew they had to tie up the game, and they had time to do it. The two teams were determined to score and it was just a matter of when the next point would be.  With 9 minutes left in the first quarter, the Eagles took a timeout. 

That timeout proved to be successful as Reef Krug (‘25)  scored the first point for Forge. The crowd cheered for them and the energy was good. Later on, two more points were scored by Jakob Stone ( ‘22) and Kevin McGowan (‘23). Mountain View took a timeout with 7:20 left on the board. Which resulted in the Wildcats putting two more points on the board and tieing the game. At the end of the first quarter, the score was tied 3-3. 

With the faceoffs, AJ Riley (‘23)  and Micheal Goben (‘24)  did most of them. AJ won 3 out of the 11 he did, and Micheal won 4 out of the  6 he did.  It was a battle for the ball within the faceoff but when forge got a hold of it,  they did their job.  

In the second quarter, no points were scored by Forge, and 5 points were scored by mountain view. With 8:29 remaining in the second quarter, number 16  from Mountain View got a slashing penalty and was out for one minute.  A few minutes after that, with 2:11 on the board Forge player TJ Dowd ( ‘22) also got a slashing penalty and was also out for one minute. 

At halftime, the score was 8-3 Mountain View and both teams regrouped. When the players came back onto the field, it was as if a new game had started.  Both teams had new energy and were ready to win, but it came down to who wanted it more. Reef Krug scored the point for Forge in the third quarter. The defense had improved from the first half but allowed Mountain View to put two more points on the board. With 11 minutes left in the third quarter, Forge player Jackson Welch (‘ 24)  got a slashing penalty and was out for one minute. Both teams were passing back and forth down the field,  but no more points were scored in the third quarter. 

With the breeze flowing across the stands, the crowd cheered on their team in hopes of a win.  In the fourth quarter, Mountain View was in the lead. A Lot of back and forth passing went on but Jakob Stone scored for Forge. Mountain View then took a time out at 10:26, and later took one at 3:14.

For Mountain View, three points were scored. With 2:14 left in the game, Forge player Jakob Stone got a slashing penalty and was out for one minute. He left the field and the game continued. 

With almost one minute left, number 22 on Mountain View started a fight when TJ Dowd hit him hard. He went over to TJ and started yelling at him and other players surrounded them. A fight broke out and then their teammates broke it up between a Mountain View player and a  Forge player,  Christian Stringer ( ‘23). Both received an unsportsmanlike penalty and were both out for one minute.  

With points scored by Reef Kurg, Jakob Stone, Kevin McGowan, an assist by Ryan Riley, 12 saves by the goalie Isaiah Hudgins (‘23), and many shots were taken, the team came up short of the win. Mountain View had a big lead over Forge and the team just wasn’t able to bring the score back up. 

 The whistle blew and the game was over. An end to a good game played well by both teams. Both teams had problems but fought hard. The final score was 13-5 and Mountain View won. The Eagles clearly were not happy with how they played but will work out the problems in practice and come back stronger next game. 

“It was an intense game, hard fight from both teams, and Forge definitely played a good game,” Garrett Talkington (‘24) said. 

With Forge leaving some gaps in the plays, the coaches weren’t happy.  Having played as they did and having a fight during the game, the coaches made the team run after the game. The players knew what they did wrong and knew why they were running. When they were done, the team changed and packed up to go home.