
Bolles Pushing Toward Playoffs with win over Fleming Island
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
By Mike Zima, Correspondent
Senior attack Gray King had a hat trick to lead Jacksonville Bolles to a 10-8 victory at Fleming Island Wednesday night.
“He is awesome,” said Bolles first-year coach Mike Mulvey, whose Bulldogs improve to 9-4. “He can go left side as fast as he can right-side. He can shoot in tight, and he can make angle shots.”
King, who has committed to play at Stevenson University next fall, scored two of his goals during a four-goal run by the Bulldogs to open the game. The Bulldogs took eight shots before the Golden Eagles mustered their first.
“We had a lot of energy off of the opening whistle,” said Mulvey. “We were not hesitating on ground balls; we were running through them.”
Middies Jack Phipps and Kienan Brady scored early in the second quarter to give Bolles a 6-1 advantage before Fleming Island turned things around. With two goals apiece from freshman Eric Dobson and senior Kirby Gracia, the Golden Eagles went on a four-goal run of their own to pull within 6-5 at the intermission.
Bolles regained control by shutting out the Golden Eagles in the third quarter while scoring four goals to push their lead to 10-5 entering the final stanza. Each goal was scored by a different player, and each goal came off an assist.
But just like in the first half, the Golden Eagles clawed their way back into the game. Jack Hawley, a senior playing his last home game, had two goals, one on a bounce shot from close range, and Dobson added his third of the game to make the score 10-8 with 7:10 remaining. But Fleming Island could get no closer, as Bulldogs junior goalie David Barr made three saves on one possession with six minutes left, Bolles middie Max Cussen made an interception with 1:12 remaining, and Fleming Island was caught offsides in the final minute to prevent the Golden Eagles from completing the comeback. Cussen finished with one goal and two assists.
“We are an amazing lacrosse team in spurts,” said Mulvey. “We have got to take what we did in the first and third quarters and do it in the second and fourth quarters.”
Bolles will return to action March 23 with a game at Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida.
Fleming Island falls to 3-7, having lost four games by three goals or less. The Golden Eagles end the season with two road games, the first of which is a non-district clash at Jacksonville Sandalwood Friday, March 17.