A single goal separated Hart Indians boys’ lacrosse from its first-ever Foothill League championship.
Midway through the fourth quarter, all tied up, Hart found its answer as senior Tate Fuller drove in hard and found junior Blake Osoria, who hit the quick-turnaround, league-clinching goal.
Hart held on to its one-goal lead until the close and secured the 8-7 win at West Ranch and a co-Foothill League championship on Wednesday.
The Indians’ defense caught fire to secure the title as they held the Wildcats scoreless throughout the fourth quarter. West Ranch senior Luke Ramaekers nearly tied it up with a long dash through multiple defenders, but Hart (13-3, 7-1) made its final stand as senior Scott Morris poked the ball free and turned the Wildcats away empty-handed.
“Our defender Scott Morris made a great check to knock the ball out,” said Indians coach Daniel Kim. “All game long, they made stops when they needed to and I think that’s why our defense has been so great. We make stops when we need to and they played great today.”
West Ranch (6-8, 4-4) won five straight faceoffs to start the game but Hart’s defense forced one turnover after another to jump ahead early.
Hart freshman Max Smith led the way for the Indians with four goals and one assist. Smith led the charge early as Hart jumped up to a 3-0 lead to start the game.
“(Smith’s) a tireless worker. When we’re conditioning, he’s always first in, first when we’re running, after practice, he’s taking shots,” Kim said. “This guy just loves the game and it really shows in practice and in games. He lives and breathes lacrosse. It’s extremely impressive to come in as a freshman and make a big impact like this in a big-time game and drop four. It speaks to all the work that he’s put in this entire year.”
Fuller also added two goals for the Indians on top of the game-winning assist.
West Ranch found its spark late in the quarter and carried its momentum in the second, when the team poured in four goals to tie the score at halftime.
Wildcat senior Ryan Donell and junior Jonas Cantu got their team back into the game with three goals apiece.
The pair struggled to get past Hart goalie Beau Vought early in the game but got the better of him a few times before the Indian defense ignited in the fourth.
Cantu scored back-to-back goals in the second with a smooth fake and finish followed by a low shot that put the Wildcats up 5-4.
Smith hit an equalizer before the half and to start the fourth, as the freshman overpowered the West Ranch defense and pounded a shot in just a few feet off the goal.
Hart scored in several different ways as Kim aims to give his offense creative freedom.
“Our offense is not very structured,” Kim said. “We just get guys into favorable spots and just let them play free, with a bunch of picks, back cuts and stuff. That’s just been something that we’ve been working on since the beginning of the year. I think that it’s very hard to defend when there’s not just one structural play and guys can play off each other.”
The Wildcats got their biggest momentum boost in the third quarter when Ramaekers picked off a pass on defense and took the counter the length of the field. Ramaekers broke free past everyone on the field and slammed in the 7-6 goal.
The Cats were fired up and remained up one goal going into the fourth quarter as some Indian turnovers flattened Hart to close the third.
Hart recharged in the fourth, knowing what was on the line as the team played a tremendous 12 minutes all over the field to clinch the league title.
“I’m super proud. Half of our team picked up a stick in November,” Kim said. “It just shows how much work they put in there. They came in as great polished athletes, they got the stick work down and they just had a lot of fun out here playing with your friends.”
Hart’s title will be shared with Saugus (11-7, 7-1), which has now won four straight Foothill League championships.
The Indians were just one golden goal away from an outright championship but fell early in the season to the Centurions in overtime.
Hart regrouped from the early loss and locked in as the team went on to win 12 of its last 13 games, including a 15-9 revenge game over Saugus.
The program had been struggling to break through for the past few seasons as West Ranch and Saugus remained atop of the league for years. Kim saw an opportunity in his second season at the helm and found the winning recipe early in the season.
“In the beginning of the season, I thought it was gonna be close and really difficult and it was,” Kim said. “You don’t really know what kind of a team you have until you get out there and play. So, after the first couple of games and after making some adjustments, I thought we looked like we could be a contender. We had returners and we had a bunch of new football players. They all really just bought in and they fell in love with the sport.”
The Indians now shift their focus to the postseason with new goals in mind. Hart ranks seventh in Division 3 and has shown promising play against some of the division’s tough opponents.
Hart, Saugus and West Ranch all find out their postseason journeys over the weekend when the CIF Southern Section releases its playoff brackets.
“Going into playoffs, we can feel proud about ourselves knowing that we are a great team and other teams should be scared to play us,” Kim said. “We still have to fix up a few things from this game, but we’ll learn and get better. We’re very excited for playoffs.”
