Above – Alex Proly slips past his defender On an absolutely perfect day for Lacrosse, Seminole (10-2) hosted Columbine HS (2-2) from Colorado on Saturday. Seminole looked to finish off a perfect (3-0) week and move their winning streak to 6, while Columbine looked to rebound from a tough loss to IMG on Tuesday, March 25th, 11-7. Columbine, a traditional Top 10 team in Colorado, spent their Spring Break in Florida looking to gauge their early season progress against 2 of the states better teams.

Both teams came out inspired and ready for a battle, every ground ball was fought for, every clear was challenged, every pass attempt was contested and every shot was an adventure. Columbine’s size, strength and physical play were matched by Seminole’s speed, skill and determination. The goalies were the story in the first quarter, with both coming up with point-blank saves on a number of occasions. Seminole’s Sophomore Ben Roth turned back every blast from Columbine in the quarter and finished the game with 10 saves, many of the high quality variety. Columbine’s Jake Miller matched Roth’s stellar efforts with some highlight saves of his own. He stoned a number of Seminole’s attack in the 1st quarter, and as a result preserved a 0-0 tie after one. Seminole wasted little time in the 2nd quarter breaking the tie when Junior Bennett Osterink scored on a fed from Heath Rivers a little over a minute into the quarter. Columbine finally got on the board half-way through the quarter with an accrobatic effort from their attackman to tie the score. Based on how both defenses and goalies where playing, it looked like the game would go to halftime tied at 1-1, but Seminole had other ideas. With 2 minutes to go in the half, Columbine took a holding penalty, and Bennett Osterink scored again to make it 2-1. Then with only 18 seconds left, Heath Rivers scored unassisted on a great individual effort to give Seminole a 3-1 halftime lead.

Seminole took control early in the 3rd quarter and controlled the play. They were rewarded with another unassisted goal, this time from Alex Proly ( North Greenville) to give the Noles what seemed like a safe 4-1 lead. Columbine continued to battle and with 3 minutes left in the quarter were able to cut the lead back to 2 and enter the last quarter only down 4-2. Columbine came out flying in the 4th quarter and looked to have save their best for last. They scored 2 goals in less than a minute about half-way through the quarter and tied the gme at 4-4. Seminole defense responded with solid plays and seemed to have steamed the tide, until Columbine scored a fluky goal with less than 4 minutes to play. Columbine’s middie was passing low to an attackman and the ball seemed to get deflected and went by the startled Seminole keeper. Columbine had their first lead of the game, their energy was sky high and they sensed they could finished their Florida trip with a win. But as Seminole has done all year, they did not give up and less than a minute after Columbine had taken the lead, Bennett Osterink completed his Hat Trick with a laser from the top of the arch and the game was tied again, 5-5. The game looked destined for overtime until Columbine made a mental mistake and took an unnecessary roughing call at the 2 minute mark. Seminole wasted little time on the man-up, the moved the ball around crisply until the opportunity presented itself, and when it did, Sophomore Payton Rivers buried the eventual game winner at 1:38. Columbine won the ensuring face-off, called timeout and set up their last play, but Seminole was prepared. The poles locked down their men, the middies rode their counterparts and ultimately forced a turnover without ever giving up a shot. Seminole ran out the final minute to finish a fantastic lacrosse game. Columbine (2-3) left the Sunshine State on Sunday and will begin their conference play on Friday, April 3rd. While they lost both game on the trip, losing 11-7 to IMG and 6-5 to Seminole on the road, they should be ready for whatever competition they face back home. Seminole (11-2) closes out their regular season with a road game at Lake Howell on Tuesday, March 31st and a home game against Timber Creek on Friday, April 3rd.