Line it up
On a chilly night at Coppell Middle School North, the Coppell Cowboys were led by senior attack man, Leo Swaldi (5G,1A), in a 17-6 win over Rockwall.
This was our first look at the 2020 Coppell team and it is safe to say, " They are put together." With arguably one of the most dangerous attack units in the state, their offense scores in waves. To give you an idea, Tuesday's game brings their season goal total to 54 in contests against Kingwood, McKinney, and Rockwall. Senior draw man, Max Lamendola, gives them plenty of possessions and while it is early in the season, the Cowboys look organized on offense. Down low their defense is long, rangy, and athletic and will make it tough on opposing offenses in 2020.
Man of the Match: Leo Swaldi (5G,1A) Gets Buckets.
Coppell registered 7 different goal scorers in Tuesday night's game and the attack unit of Swaldi (5G,1A), junior Dylan Colon (3G,1A), and junior Gavin Osteen (2G) combined for 10 buckets. Rounding out the scoring for the Cowboys were Lamendola (4G,2A), senior Peyton Barron (1G), junior Bain Carter (1G), and junior LSM Colton Delk (1G).
Coppell came out hot from the opening whistle and scored on the opening face-off from Lamendola to Swaldi. Swaldi proceeded to then rattle off 3 more goals in the first quarter and completed his hat trick just 7 minutes into the game. After Swaldi's initial run, the game balanced out a little bit with each team's goalie playing big between their respective pipes. Hayden MacArthur (Coppell) and Brett West (Rockwall) were both excellent throughout the game and each made multiple highlight quality saves. Senior attack man, John Burton (5G) was able to stop Coppell's 3 goal-run briefly with 4:43 remaining in the 1st quarter before heading into the 2nd down 4-1.
Coppell's offensive terror continued throughout the 2nd quarter due to Lamendola gaining possession at the X, a great riding effort between the boxes, and a pair of costly Rockwall penalties that Coppell was able to cash in on with their extra man unit. The Cowboys outscored Rockwall 4-2 in the 2nd frame and had a comfortable 8-3 lead headed into halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, Rockwall was able to balance the time possession by winning a couple of face-offs, improving in the clear, and capitalizing on an EMO penalty. Each team was able to produce 2 goals a piece and Coppell had a comfortable 10-5 headed into the 4th. Despite slowing Coppell's offensive prodcution after half time, the Cowboys really got loose in the 4th and out scored Rockwall 7-1 to close out the game and seal the 17-6 victory.
For Rockwall, John Burton (5G) , was excellent and carried most of the offensive load. Junior attack man, Joshua Vogel (1G), scored a great goal by getting underneath his defender and finishing just before stepping into the crease. Rockwall's defense is young and certainly had their hands full on Tuesday, but their sophomore tendy, Brett West, is something they can certainly build around as they look to improve throughout the season.
John Burton (5G) is a Problem
With the win, Coppell improves to 3-0 on the season and will travel to Central Texas this weekend to test their mettle against Vandegrift (6-0) and Lake Travis (1-0) on Saturday and Sunday. Rockwall falls to 0-3 on the season with losses to Vandegrift (6-0) and Dripping Springs (2-0) in addition to Coppell (3-0). Next up for Coach Fay and company is Plano West (1-0) in a North District-East Divisional game with all kinds of playoff implications.
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