Lakeridge boys lacrosse pulls away to beat West Linn 12-3
Published 2:28 pm Thursday, June 5, 2025
Facing off against second-ranked Lakeridge in the Oregon High School Lacrosse Association state semifinals, the West Linn boys lacrosse team was dead-even with the Pacers at halftime.
But Lakeridge came to life in the second half, outscored the Lions by nine goals and rolled to a 12-3 victory at Ida B. Wells High School on Wednesday, June 4.
“We spent a lot of time throughout the week making sure we knew the tendencies of the other team’s players,” said Lakeridge senior goalie Nolan Darcy, who finished with eight saves in the win. “And once we started (scoring), they started dropping quickly, just faster and faster.”
“We always say it’s 0-0 every half no matter what the score is, so going into the second half, it was nothing new,” said Pacer senior attack Davis Reardon, who led all scorers with five goals. “We were able to execute and I knew that we were going to be able to.”
In the process, Lakeridge also secured a berth in the state title contest against Jesuit, set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at Ida B. Wells High School. The top-ranked Crusaders (20-1 overall after winning the Metro League) earned their title-game berth by routing Oregon Episcopal School 17-1 in their semifinal.
“We’ve been looking forward to this since freshman year” Reardon said. “This is our year. It’s really the only thing that matters. Up until now, we were expected to get here and it took a little extra work this year, but we’re here now and we’re dialed in.”
“We got them once (this year), but they had a couple players injured and that game was a little too close to call so I think we’ve just got to keep getting better,” Darcy said.
With the win, the second-ranked Pacers’ 18th straight, Lakeridge improved to 20-1 overall after winning the Three Rivers League.
No. 3 West Linn, meanwhile, saw its two-game winning streak snapped and ended its year at 15-5 after finishing second in the TRL.
“We all were just high-energy (in the first half) and I think we surprised Lakeridge a little bit,” said West Linn senior midfielder Rylan Mueller, who scored once in the loss. “We came to fight and I think we showed up great all around.”
“We didn’t care who was on the other side – we cared about us only and we knew what we had to do,” said Lion junior long stick middle Viggo Anderson, who finished with four ground balls. “Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but I thought we played amazing.”
The first half was a balanced back-and-forth affair that saw the Pacers and Lions trade possession and both defenses dominate. West Linn notched the only goal of the first quarter when senior Brody Jones took a pass from junior Connor Peters and connected with 5 minutes, 59 seconds left in the period.
With Darcy, West Linn junior goalie Rowan Kelly (he finished with 13 saves) and both defenses in control, Lakeridge scored the lone goal of the second quarter, getting an overhand shot from junior Jacen Wilbur to make it 1-1 with 1:57 left in the first half.
But after an early trade of goals in the third quarter – one from Reardon and one from West Linn junior Drew Reinke – Lakeridge took over.
Over a span of 17:30 in the third and fourth quarters, the Pacers took off on a 10-0 scoring run to leave the Lions behind, a stretch highlighted by four Reardon scores and two goals each from senior Cash Groves and freshman Enzio Fedrizzi.
“I knew … it was just a matter of time,” Darcy said. “The momentum definitely switched after we got a couple of goals going.”
“We just had to move the ball a little more and rely on each other and believe in each other and not take selfish opportunities,” Reardon said. “We did that and we were able to get them into the goal.”
For their part, the Lions chose to focus on the many positives from their 2025 season.
“I feel like our connection – we really became more than friends, (we were) brothers – and it just carried on throughout the season,” Anderson said. “We had some highs and lows, but I wouldn’t have done it with anybody else.”
“I just love these boys. We’ve had such a connection from day one,” Mueller said. “We’ve worked hard through the off-season, always giving our all and we just have such a special bond which pushes us to go further and harder every game.”
