Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 6, June 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Hale lacrosse team posts winning record

By RUSS BROWN

The Nathan Hale High School boys lacrosse team finished their season with a nine win/eight loss overall record (4-4 in conference play). Senior Dan Holt was selected to the Division One All-State Second Team, while seniors Matt Haines and Faisal Mased, and juniors Henry Sulzbacher and Boyd Brown were given honorable mention status.

Coach Chris Long attributes the team's turnaround (after 2-12 records in both 2001 and 2001) to the effort of the team's seven seniors. "The effort and leadership of the seniors was better than it's ever been in my three years here," said Chris Long, head coach. "They kept working on their game when times were bad (2002); they were competitive in every game we played in 2004 due to their hard work."

This year's seniors on the team were: Kevin Weitz, Doug Heinekey, Daniel Bash, Drew McDonald, Holt, Haines and Mased.

The Nathan Hale Raiders team started off the season with road wins over teams from Bellevue and Port Angeles high schools. In their third game, Hale scored four times in the last two minutes to force Seattle Prep to overtime, but lost a heartbreaker, a score of 15-14. The Raiders then hung tough with defending champion Bainbridge Island, but lost on the road, a score of 11-8.

With a record of two wins and two losses, the Raiders defeated Maple Valley High 12 goals to 11 goals, and lost to a surprising Issaquah squad. Hale then went on a three-game winning streak over Curtis, Garfield and Franklin. Eastside ended that streak with a 12-3 win over Nathan Hale.

The team notched the year's best comeback at home against Lakeside High. The Raiders were down 8-4 with five minutes left to go in the game, but goals by Pat Sund, Mased, Alex Laznik and Haines brought the game to an 8-8 tie with less than two minutes remaining.

After a Lakeside timeout, Lasnik won another face-off and fed to Haines for the 9-8 lead. After a save by Brown, the ball moved back to the Raiders offensive half where Lasnik scored with 12 seconds left to give the Raiders a remarkable 10-8 win.

The Raiders beat Lakeside and Port Angeles two weeks later, and finished the season with a 16-6 loss at Mercer Island.

Despite losing seven seniors, Long is optimistic about 2005. "We took another forward step in our program's development," he says, "but it leaves me and the players wanting more.

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Russ Brown is the father of Nathan Hale High School boys lacrosse team member Boyd Brown.