Last week (April 24-28), the boys’ lacrosse team improved their record to 5-4 with double-digit wins over Clarksburg (3-7) and Northwest (4-6) and a 17-8 loss to the reigning 4A state semifinalist Sherwood Warriors (9-1). The Wildcats netted 38 goals on the week with junior Noah Diamond (10 goals on the week), sophomore Ryan Gardner (9) and junior Jonah Levy (6) leading the way.

The week started with a 17-5 win over Clarksburg on Monday, April 24. The Wildcats set the tone of the game early, getting out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and then scoring four goals in a two-and-a-half-minute span in the first minutes of the second quarter. The Cats continued the attack scoring a total of seven goals in the second quarter and adding six more in the third.

“We have a lot of good players like we have Ryan, Noah and Jonah, so they are able to create a lot of offense and create a lot of goals for the game,” sophomore defender John Jernell said.

Then on Wednesday, April 26, the Wildcats were defeated by Sherwood. The Warriors held a large lead from start to finish and whenever the Wildcats scored a goal, the Warriors would quickly respond with multiple goals. Defensively, the Wildcats were unable to stop the Warriors and it did not help that they had numerous penalties including multiple periods where they were two players down.

“I feel like we just need to be more disciplined. We shouldn’t have said anything about the refs. I feel like my character and my discipline has improved throughout the season because I was losing my temper a little bit, but I think that game actually helped me think about where I am as a player. I feel like we will improve,” junior defender Brandon Moon said.

Less than 24 hours after their defeat, the Wildcats were back to winning with a 13-2 trouncing of Northwest. Gardner led the team with seven goals as the Wildcats were able to close out the week with a victory.

“It’s definitely a confidence boost, like a momentum gain. [It’s] always good to have easy games like that leading up to playoffs,” Levy said.

For the final week of the regular season, the Wildcats will travel to face Springbrook (4-7) on Tuesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. and host Rockville (5-5) for the team’s senior night on Thursday, May 4 at 6 p.m.

“These last few games, we should win and we should win by a large margin, but we [have to] keep our composure, getting through what we need to get through, getting done what we need to get done and just be together as a team,” Moon said.

This year’s senior night will celebrate midfielders Liam O’Connor and Jalen Scott and captain defender Patrick Adams.

“It’s only three of them, but they are three starters and three important pieces of our team and it’s going to be tough seeing them leave. I think we just got to send them with something good, so hopefully go far in the playoffs,” Gardner said.