Westlake Knocks Off Defending State Champs
Brayden Duncan 3G, 1A STX #ManOfTheMatch
On a perfect Sunday afternoon at Ebbie Neptune Field in Austin, Texas, Brayden Duncan had 3 goals and 1 assist to lead the Westlake Chaparrals to their biggest win in 2020 over the defending State Champions, Episcopal School of Dallas. The 10-7 victory may have been the first time in history Westlake has beaten ESD.
The match-up was the most highly anticipated of the young Texas Lacrosse season as many had both teams ranked in the top 3 in the state coming into the game. Both teams have absolutely loaded rosters top to bottom so we knew we would be in for a treat. Texas High School Lacrosse, at it's finest, was on display Sunday!
For Westlake, the attack group of Bryce Walker, Cam Lynch, and Brayden Duncan combined to score 6 of the Chaps' 10 buckets. These 3 work extremely well together and are extremely dangerous both in transition and sharing the ball in settled 6's. They get buckets! Walker had 2 goals and 3 assists on the day and Lynch had the final goal of the game on a step down look assisted from Walker. Midfielders Ollie Lovell (2G, 1A) and Ethan Burke (1G) rounded out the scoring sheet for Westlake.
Duncan Went Bonkers
It was Westlake's physical play between the boxes and at close defense that really set the tone for the game. The Chaps were more physical than ESD on Sunday and their physicality seemed to really have an effect on ESD's production. Ethan Frischertz, Hudson Bartlett, Will Rhodes, Christian Fournier, and company forced multiple uncharacteristic turnovers from ESD creating tons of offense from the Chaps' back line.
The flow of the first quarter was extremely intense and after some initial back and forth, Westlake's Ethan Burke opened up the scoring with 5:10 remaining in the period. ESD responded promptly by going on a 3 goal run to take a 3-1 lead headed into the second frame. ESD's momentum would carry over into the 2nd due to winning 5/6 face-offs and numerous highlight reel saves from junior tendy Max Beuck. The Eagles extended their run to 5 straight goals before Westlake went on a 2 goal run of their own to close out the half trailing 4-5. Despite the score and the ESD halftime lead, it felt like Westlake was right where they wanted to be. The Chaps were flying around, making tons of plays at full speed, and seemingly playing more physical than the Eagles.
Just one and a half minutes into the 3rd, ESD extended their lead once again to 2 goals off a fluke play inside that resulted in Fletcher Calvert scoring his second goal of the day. Westlake continued to apply pressure to the ESD defense with Sam Wadsworth going 4-0 at the face-off X in the 3rd and rattling off the next 3 goals to take their first lead of the game 7-6 into the fourth quarter. With all the momentum in their favor, the Chaps did not let up. The Chaps scored 3 goals in the first 2 minutes of the 4th to put this game on ice. Once again, Wadsworth was dominant at the X going 4-1 in the final frame and allowing Westlake to play make it, take it to extend their run to 6 unanswered goals before ESD's final goal with 7:25 remaining. A combination of great goal tending from Westlake, solid defense from the Chaps back line, and ESD shooters missing the cage on numerous occasions allowed Westlake to seal the victory 10-7.
Pacing the offense in the loss for ESD, Caden Dundon had 3 goals and 1 assist for the Eagles. Sophomore Fletcher Calvert played great on Sunday too and scored 2 goals and added 1 assist. ESD scoring was rounded out by Drew Wasserman and Jake Griffin with 1
goal a piece.
Fletcher Calvert With A Bomb From 15
Westlake improved to 3-1 on the season with their only blemish being a 1 goal loss to Dallas Jesuit. This week they take on Memorial at home this Saturday before heading East for Spring Break to test their mettle against Archbishop Spalding and St. Mary's. ESD is now 3-1 with their lone loss coming against Westlake. The Eagles take on Dallas Jesuit Wednesday night before travelling to Houston this weekend to take on Episcopal Houston and St. John's.
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