#StickStarReport20 coverage kicks off with a trip to Central Texas.
On a wet weekend in Central Texas, Rockwall opened their season coming South to play Vandegrift and Dripping Springs. After dropping a tough game against Vandegrift 13-6 , a talented Dripping Springs squad lay in waiting.
The starting attack unit lead the way for the Tigers registering 9 goals and 6 assists against their opponent. Senior Cristian Reno added three goals, four assists, senior Brayden Glass added four goals, two assists while junior Charles Hunt added two goals of his own.
The now senior-laden Tigers roster showed tremendous chemistry opening up the scoring early and ultimately never looking back. The Tigers quickly got out to a 8-1 lead in the first quarter, extending it to 12-1 at half.
Drip did a great job of dictating possession. The face-off tandem of junior Alex Schlab and senior Cy Bruni went undefeated at the X. In addition to the drawmen the Tigers applied a ton of pressure with their wing play. Finally their zone ride forced Rockwall into several turnovers and extended possision. Due to a lack of possession Rockwall had a tough time settling in to this one.
This trend continued in the second half, as the Tigers continued to operate at a high level. After the third, their lead ballooned to 17-3 after the 3rd with a 20-4 final. Other notable scorers for the Tigers were senior Pierce Walker with a hat-trick, senior Caden Louthan with two goals and an assist, and senior Blake Bendy with a goal and three assists. With 10 different scorers, the Tigers have proven offensive depth that will continue to give defenses issues. A potent offense with a strong defensive unit, they should be fun to watch this season.
Senior John Burton was definitely a bright spot for the Rockwall offensive group. Drawing the match-up of Jakob Joy, High Point University commit, he had quite the task ahead of him but was able to step up to the challenge. Welcoming contact, he was able to continually get to the middle and create scoring opportunities for himself, netting all four goals for Rockwall. Sophomore Carson McCallum added to the effort with an assist.
Splitting the time in the cage, sophomore Brett West and senior Christian Layton were still able to make several big saves among the barrage of shots coming their way. It will be interesting to see if these two continue to split time or if Coach Fay will eventually give one the go ahead.
With some apparent early season injuries and a lot of sophomores on the roster, the young Rockwall team is just getting warmed up and will look to continue to settle in as they prepare for upcoming district play.
After their Austin trip, Rockwall has some time to improve as they head back home to Dallas to face the Coppell Cowboys on the 18th. Dripping Springs will be back at it with their first two district games hosting Round Rock on February 13th and then head to Anderson to face the Trojans on 19th.
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