South Forsyth High School

Eagles sink Centennial

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In a closely contested battle in any sport, the winning team is usually the team that does the little things, whether that is advancing a runner with a backside ground ball in baseball, managing short third downs in football, diving on the floor in basketball, or picking up ground balls in lacrosse.

On Tuesday night in Cumming, the little things are what helped propel the South Forsyth boys lacrosse team (10-7, 5-1 Region 6 A-AAAAA) to a 16-10 win over Centennial.

The War Eagles had an advantage in the key statistical categories of face-offs won, turnovers, and total shots, but it was on their ground game —ground ball pickups that is — where they had a decisive 39-19 edge.

Every time there was a loose ball that left the comforts of the netted cradle and found itself on the ground, it seemed there was a War Eagle there to scoop it up, led by Andrew Fausel and Alex Roe, who each snagged four ground balls.

“Ground balls have been a real challenge for us this season,” said South head coach Josh Hawkins. “We work on it daily, and it finally seemed to pay off tonight.”

Hawkins also thought South’s ability to limit turnovers was key.

“We took care of the ball on the offensive side of the field which allowed for longer possessions, more shots, and ultimately, more goals.”

Coming into the game averaging only 8.5 goals per game, South was able to find the back of the net 16 times thanks to some advanced scouting on Centennial goalie Sean Hall. In the first quarter, the War Eagles attacked Hall with long bounce shots that bounded over the shoulders of the goalie and into the top of the net.

The long bounce shots netted Michael Emerson two goals and Fausel another as South took a 3-2 lead after the first quarter. The shots also helped open up the net when Hall tried to adjust to stop the bounce shots.

The second quarter belonged to Michael Maready, who tallied three of his four goals in the 12-minute period.

However, South could not pull away from the Knights due to the combination of the scoring tandem of playmaker Tyler Forester and Edward Thorne and the vision and passing of Jake Manger.

Forester had four unassisted goals in the first three quarters, Thorne scored four times on the night, and Manger added three assists and a behind-the-back goal to keep Centennial within striking distance at 10-9 entering the fourth quarter, but it was all War Eagles in the final quarter.

Nine seconds into the quarter, Emerson tallied his fourth point of the game with his third goal, and after winning the face-off, South was right back on the attack with Michael Kasmarik scoring on an assist from Hayden Harrington.

Fausel, Roe, and Nick Croft added insurance goals before senior Mason Currie put the nail in the coffin on Senior night with a goal in the final minute.

“We made a defensive adjustment that seemed to [stop Centennial’s offensive attack] and a couple of back-to-back fast-break goals on our part got the momentum in our favor again,” said Hawkins about his team’s dominant fourth quarter performance.

On the night, Maready led all scorers with a six-point effort, while Kasmarik, Emerson, and Fausel each netted hat tricks. Chase Agisotelis earned the victory in goal with six saves.

South will travel to Milton for the regular season finale next Tuesday in a game that could potentially determine the region champion. The game is slated to begin at 5:55, weather permitting.