The Pacers made a statement.

The Lakeridge boys lacrosse team, facing Three Rivers League rival West Linn on Monday, May 12, showed that it is the big dog in the TRL this year.

The Pacers raced out to a nine-goal lead at the end of the first quarter, kept control the rest of the way and coasted home to win 15-1 at West Linn High School.

“Honestly, we’re just trying to get as many goals … as possible,” said Lakeridge senior long stick middle Tristan Martin, who finished with three goals and three ground balls. “Just whoever scores, scores. Everyone’s super focused on our end goal and playing just one game at a time.”

“There’s nothing better than just looking one game forward and playing that game and just keep going to see how far we can make it,” said Pacer junior attack Jacen Wilbur, who led all scorers with four goals and added two ground balls.

With the win, the Pacers’ 14th straight, Lakeridge improved to 4-0 in Three Rivers League play and 16-1 overall. Next up, the Pacers close out the regular season against Canby at 8 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Canby High School.

West Linn, meanwhile, saw its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-1 in TRL play and 13-4 overall. Next up, the Lions will open the Oregon High School Lacrosse state playoffs; their playoff opponent and game date will not be set until after the conclusion of the regular season.

“At the end of the season, going into the playoffs, we learned a lot from this game, and as a team, I think we’re ready for what’s next and we’re just going to keep playing our hardest,” said West Linn junior defender Logan Koelbel, who finished with three ground balls in the loss.

“It’s a reset for us. It flips the team around,” added Lion senior midfielder Brody Jones, who scored his team’s lone goal against Lakeridge. “We’ll focus on the mental mistakes – not what happened on the field, but why it happened. We’ll reset and we’ll come out this week in practice more prepared.”

With Lakeridge senior faceoff specialist Cash Groves dominating – he won 15 faceoffs – the Pacers controlled the ball big-time and made good use of that control. Five different Lakeridge players scored in their dominant first quarter, getting three goals from Wilbur, two each from Martin and senior Kellen Aird, and one each by junior Gavin Hidalgo and senior Charlie Coyne.

The Pacers eased off the accelerator after that, posting a 1-0 edge in the second quarter, a 2-1 advantage in the third – Jones took a pass from junior Connor Peters and angled a shot home from the right side for West Linn’s lone goal – and a 3-0 shutout in the fourth quarter for the final 15-1 margin.

For the game, Lakeridge’s Hidalgo finished with two goals and one ground ball, Beckett Godfrey added three ground balls and one assist, and Davis Reardon had one ground ball and two assists.