The Whitewater and Starr’s Mill boys and girls faced off in a crosstown lacrosse match recently, and the Whitewater boys and Starr’s Mill girls were victorious.

Whitewater boys won, 7-5, and the Starr’s Mill girls won, 9-8.

In the first-ever meeting of the these local lacrosse teams, Whitewater defied the odds and earned the victory in an aggressive game that displayed solid defensive play. Only a first-year varsity program, Whitewater focused on team defense and ball control in their defeat of Starr’s Mill.

Starr’s Mill showed its experience by getting on the scoreboard first, but Whitewater responded with a strong face-off and goal by sophomore midfielder Blake Jaurigue.

After Starr’s Mill attackman Jeff Turner scored in front of the net to end the first quarter, Whitewater played a stellar second quarter when they shut down the potent Panthers offense and took the lead with three goals of their own—two by attackman Adam Byne and one from Ben Hester.

Starr’s Mill mounted a comeback in the third quarter, tying the game by netting two goals within 30 seconds of each other.

But Whitewater again responded with a beautiful feed from Byne to Hester, retaking the lead going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter displayed intense lacrosse, with both teams playing very aggressively. Whitewater senior midfielder Logan Martin gave the Wildcats a 6-4 lead halfway through the fourth quarter.

After Starr’s Mill cut the lead from a goal by attackman Jake Moore, Whitewater clamped down defensively, led by goalie Travis “Cheeze” Dishburger, who had 15 saves.

After adding a goal by Kyle Norton to pad their lead, Whitewater successfully ran out the clock and left Wildcat Stadium as victors.

“I was incredibly proud of the way we stepped up tonight, especially defensively,” Whitewater coach Kris Muir said. “We knew it would be a big challenge to contain a team that can score 14 or 15 goals on any given night. We certainly rose to the occasion.”

Whitewater was scheduled to play yesterday in a rematch against Northgate at East Coweta Middle School after the paper went to press.

In the girls match, Starr’s Mill’s leading scorers were Alexandra Stanley (three goals, one assist), Sarah Jagstadt (two goals, one assist), Cerena Wandersee (two goals), Sarah Risley (one goal) and Morgan Scott (one goal).

Whitewater’s leading scorers were Katie Ferrell (three goals), Alicia Logan (two goals), Liz Webb (one goal), Caitlin Baird (one goal) and Courtney Winslett (one goal).

This past Wednesday the McIntosh girls lacrosse team hosted Wesleyan for what has become an annual battle of region rivals.

For the first time the McIntosh girls defeated Wesleyan 16-6. For McIntosh, Kelly Polo led all scorers with six goals and one assist followed by Taylor Lugash with four goals and two assists and Rachel Weissman with two goals. Jessye Ebbinhouse, Kristen Farren, Katie Dew and Emily Holloman each had one goal rounding out what is becoming a more balanced attack by the Chiefs.

Jessye, Emily, and Lindsey Beard also each contributed an assist.

On the defensive side, goalies Ashley Stewart had 17 saves on 22 shots and Olivia Char had three saves on three shots. The Chiefs dominated the draws by controlling 17 of the 22. The Chiefs will travel to Whitewater on April 16th. Game time is 5 p.m.

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