It didn’t take long for Valencia High lacrosse’s Brendan Barry to get a hat trick.
His third goal came before the first quarter even ended, and it didn’t stop there.
Barry’s five goals helped lift the Vikings to a 12-8 win over Glendale High on Friday night at Valencia.
“Whenever we need a goal, we always go to him and he’s delivered every time,” said coach Will Goodman. “He’s never disappointed. He’s unanimously the best player on the field tonight.”
With Barry’s initial goals as bedrock, the Vikings (7-7 overall) jumped out to an 8-4 lead by halftime.
But on the other side of the break, the Nitros scored three goals within the first three minutes of the third quarter to bring the score to 7-5.
Tyler Thorne netted the only goal of the third quarter, keeping the Vikings in the lead, 9-7.
“Second half was definitely difficult at first,” Barry said. “They came out hot and played an excellent game but really just bringing it in and getting the intensity back up really put us back on top.”
Glendale’s Jason Camacho scored two goals in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but the defense – and goalie Lucas Propst – were able to limit Glendale to just one goal for the remainder of the game.
“We talked more, we got our slides together and we just played a lot more stick and body,” Propst said. “…The third quarter we simmered down a little bit, but fourth quarter came and (we were) back up and firing shots and I think we did great as a team.”
Valencia takes on West Ranch, one of its biggest rivals, on Tuesday in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
“We just have to put together a full 48-minute game on Tuesday and we should come out with a ‘W,’” said Barry.
