Gators too much for Bears

The second-seeded Gators were too methodical, too accurate, too big, too strong and just too much for M-A to handle. SHP would add seven more goals in the second half as the Gators advanced to their fourth straight CCS championship game following a 13-1 win Wednesday evening in Atherton.

“I thought our defense played really lights out. … We did not execute well on the offensive side today,” said M-A head coach Steven Kryger. “When you play a team like SHP, where every kid has played for a long time, they put pressure on you. They force you to be perfect.”

SHP (17-6) will face the winner of No. 1 St. Ignatius and No. 4 St. Francis. The result was not available at press time.

The Gators led just 2-1 after the first quarter, scoring the first two goals before M-A defenseman Jack Kryger jumped up into the attack and found the back of the net midway through the opening period.

It appeared M-A (21-2) had tied the game late in the first, but Peter Koren’s goal was waved off as the horn to end the quarter sounded a split second before he got his shot off.

“We came out a little flat footed,” said SHP attacker Ian Dykes, the reigning Daily Journal Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year who scored a game-high five goals.

SHP head coach Chris Rotelli credited the M-A defense, specifically goalie Olivier Yuk, for keeping the Gators in check early. Yuk finished the match with 13 stops.

“We were getting shots,” Rotelli said. “I give Olivier credit. He made a lot of saves. That was a big part of the game staying close.”

The match stayed at 2-1 through the first four-plus minutes of the second quarter before the Gators took control of the match. Dykes used a nice juke to create space for himself before scoring at the 7:35 mark of the period to put SHP up 3-1.

But it was Dykes’ goal 16 seconds later that was the backbreaker. After that, the Gators were methodical offensively, moving the ball around until they got the shot they wanted.

“Offensively we played pretty well,” Dykes said. “Our offense has turned it up a notch.”

SHP would score four goals, total, in the second period to lead 6-1 at the break before the Gators poured it on in the third, scoring five times. They rounded out the scoring with a pair in the fourth period.

SHP had seven players score. In addition to Dykes’ five, including a first-half hat trick, Andrew Shen and Tate Starr both netted a pair.

As lethal as the Gators’ offense is, it’s their defense that really gives teams fits because they simply don’t allow their opponents clean looks at goal. And when M-A did come up with defensive stop, too often the Bears turned it over and the Gators were right back on the attack.

“Our goal was a transitional goal. We figured we probably needed one or two goals in transition, and maybe one from a [defender] and we got that,” Coach Kryger said. “Their D just did a really good job. Just took our offense out of synch. And we had too many turnovers. Too many mistakes. Too many turnovers.”

Said Rotelli: “Our defense really locked in.”