Fourth quarter run pushes Hawks ahead of Indians

ROBBY FLETCHER Sports Editor

In a game of runs where both the Powhatan Indians and Hanover Hawks boys lacrosse teams yanked momentum back and forth between each other like it was tug of war, the Hanover Hawks were the one to end the game with the last definitive run to capture the victory.

With the Indians (5-5) traveling to take on the Hawks (7-5) for a night time showdown on Wednesday, May 10, the game began with a 4-0 Indians run in the first quarter and that trend of unanswered goals continued throughout until the Hawks ran off six consecutive goals between the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth to pull ahead late for a 12-8 win.

The first quarter was all Powhatan, with the team opening up the scoring in the first two minutes with a goal by senior Connor Walters, who scored the second goal of the quarter as well and finished with three goals on the night.

Late in the first quarter, a turnover caused by a great defensive play from senior Jack Connelly sparked a run that ended with a transition finish from senior midfielder Parker Unmussig to give Powhatan its third goal of the quarter. In the final two minutes of the period, the Indians run continued with junior Carter Zaun beating a defender and firing a shot past the keeper.

In the second quarter, the momentum flipped to the side of the Hawks, who finally got on the board with a goal by senior midfielder Gavin Quinn in the first 90 seconds. With some life after Quinn’s rocket shot, the Hawks won the ensu- ing faceoff and punished the Indians with pressure that eventually resulted in a goal by freshman Tate Whitaker to cut the lead in half with four minutes left.

While Hanover’s offense developed its groove, the defense deserves its share of credit as well, tightening up from a tough first quarter by holding the Indians to just one goal in the 12-minute span.

With everyone in sync, the Hawks eventually tied the game up with two goals in 44 seconds from sophomore

Ryan Eager and Whitaker, though the run was snapped by a response finish from junior Ryland Powers to put the Indians back up just six seconds after losing their lead.

To start the second half, the Indians offense looked motivated to expand the lead back to multiple goals, as Connelly scored in the opening minute to make it a 6-4 game. Soon after, Walters reached the hat trick mark with a finish to put the Indians ahead 7-4 with 10:27 remaining in the quarter, but it would be the last goal of the third for Powhatan.

The Hawks opened their own 6-0 run with three of those coming in the third quarter. Senior midfielder Carter Grizzard started thing off followed by back-to-back goals in the final minute from senior Rock Schraa to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the final 12 minutes.

With just over 10 minutes left, the Hawks finally got their first lead of the game off of Whitaker’s third goal of the night, while Schraa scored the next one thanks to excellent ball movement from the

Hawks that gave him space to fire at the hole. Hanover’s excellent fourth quarter run continued when Eager put his team ahead 10-7 with 7:30 left in the game. The Indians got some temporarily life with under seven minutes to play when a turnover on the Hawks’ side allowed Connelly to find a cutting Conner Kluis open with a good look in front of the net to make it 10-8 and finally put an end to the Hawks run. Powhatan continued to play aggressive in the hopes of getting one more late run of their own, but Hanover was able to put a stamp on the victory with two more goals from Whitaker and Schraa to secure a much-needed home victory late in the season. The Indians have games against Mechanicsville and Matoaca left on the regular season schedule to close out their season while the Hawks will take on the Patrick Henry Patriots in their season finale.