BRISTOL — The Bristol Eastern Lancers and Berlin Redcoats battled Monday afternoon in Bristol in a game that went down to the wire.
Despite both teams battling back and forth throughout the ball game Berlin managed to close the deal scoring the game winning goal with just under two minutes left to defeat the Lancers 16-15.
The ball game was tied coming out of the halftime break 8-8 and Berlin managed to take a two point lead closing out the third quarter to push the score to 14-12. Bristol Eastern eventually tied the game up at 15 scoring a couple unanswered points, however, fell just short to lose their third consecutive game.
Berlin coach Dan Crowley said he was proud of his team for hanging in and responding when they needed to respond. He said they need to work on basic skills, but once they get that down they will look better as the season goes on.
“We said that we needed to stay in control of what we could do and just concentrate on the basic skills and as we went through the game we corrected a few things here and there,” Crowley said. “It was good to see them hang in there the way they did. I’m proud.”
He gave credit to Bristol Eastern for continuing to fight.
“They just wouldn’t let up,” he said. “We haven’t played here in a while, but I said beforehand I think we are going to be in for a battle and we were definitely in for a battle. They did a good job.”
The loss for Bristol Eastern gives them their second loss in a row and drops their season record to 3-5. Bristol Eastern coach Kayla Policarpio said it was an intense and exciting game, but Berlin managed to capitalize on some of Bristol Eastern’s mistakes.
“There were just places where we couldn’t put it all together, which is why it ended the way it did,” Policarpio said. “I don’t think it was our worst game, but those little things just didn’t come together and that really killed us in the end.”
She said despite the final score the team showed how resilient they are.
“These girls are resilient in every game and every practice,” she said. “I just have to tell them hey dig deep and remember who you are and how you play your lacrosse game and they really step up for me.”
The Lancers will turn their attention to a city rivalry game with St. Paul on Thursday at home at 5:30 p.m. However, in order to be successful the team will have to clean up the little things like simple drops and fully going after ground balls.
Policarpio said much like their battles with Bristol Central, rivalry games bring out the best in her players.
“I’m always excited. I never know what to expect from them. They’ve been a great team to face in the past,” she said. “Very similar to Central, how that rivalry just amps everyone up. It’ll be a great game to watch and I’m excited to play them.”
