Click here for a photo gallery of the Jaguars' first game!
BY: DAN KIDDER
After years of planning, preparation and hard work, it took only 16 seconds for Valley Center’s high school boys lacrosse program to make its mark.
The inaugural season for the Jaguar boys officially began Monday night with a home game against Temecula Valley, and after a pair of lightning-fast scores to open the game, the Jags went on to take an 8–2 victory.
“Seeing it all come together tonight, I’m just ecstatic,” said head coach Robert Talley. “The guys were getting really excited all week, and they were pumped to get out on the field tonight. They played a great game.”
Valley Center Pauma Unified School District (VCPUSD) Superintendent Dr. Lou Obermeyer threw out the honorary first ball, and it wasn’t long after that the Jaguars were celebrating their first goal in school history. The program is only fielding a junior varsity team this season, but plans to move up to the varsity level next year.
Midfielder Garrett Fiehler took the opening draw, scooped up the ball, fired it to attacker Sullivan Shimer, who wheeled into the middle of the field, ran straight to the goal and fired the first shot of the game past the Temecula Valley goaltender as the home crowd went wild.
“It felt really good to score the first goal,” Shimer said after the game. “I owe it all to my team. We were so excited for our first game. We worked hard in practice and we knew we needed a win to help pump up our sport. Our offense really moved the ball well tonight with some great passes, and our defense really shut them down.”
Fiehler followed up the swift score with another one just 13 seconds later. Once again, he won the midfield draw and scooped up the ball, but this time he took off down the center of the field himself and slung the ball past the bewildered keeper to give the Jags a two-goal lead just 29 seconds into the game.
“It was awesome to come out and see what we had,” Fiehler said. “I’m really proud of our guys, especially how the new kids have stepped up and become leaders.”
The game settled down after the furious flurry to open the contest, and despite a couple of near misses by both teams, the score remained 2–0 at the conclusion of the first ten minutes.
Early in the second quarter, Temecula Valley was called for back-to-back penalties, which gave the Jaguars a two-man advantage for nearly a minute. They cashed in before the second player returned from the penalty box, as Shimer unleashed a cannonade of a shot that gave the Jags a 3–0 lead less than a minute into the second period.
Another penalty on the Golden Bears nearly a minute later led to another goal for Valley Center, this time on another run down the middle by Fiehler, who bounced his shot off the turf in front of the goalie and into the back of the net.
Temecula Valley got its first goal midway through the period on a good run up the middle and a bouncing shot that found its way past the keeper.
But as the final seconds of the first half wound down, Fiehler took matters into his own hands once again, splitting the defenders, bouncing back and forth off of body checks and scoring on a perfectly-placed low shot that gave the Jaguars a 5–1 lead at halftime.
The Jags opened the second half much the same way the opened the first half, with a faceoff win by Fiehler, a great pass on the run to Shimer, and another goal on a pinpoint shot to the top corner of the net.
Valley Center extended the lead with another power play goal midway through the quarter, as Jason Blasius ripped a low shot past the goalie to put the Jags out in front 7–1.
Temecula Valley answered with a goal less than a minute later after a Jaguar turnover that led to a long run and a cleverly maneuvered shot to beat the keeper.
Leading 7–2 heading into the fourth quarter, the Jaguar defense stifled the Golden Bears’ attack again and again. Fiehler found one more way to electrify the home crowd with just under six minutes left in the game. With one of the Golden Bears flying down the hashmarks near the home sideline, Fiehler dropped his shoulder and delivered an absolutely obliterating hit to the ball carrier, flattening him in his tracks with a textbook body check. The collision knocked loose, among other things, the ball, which Fiehler alertly scooped up, carried nearly 60 yards and fired past the Temecula Valley goaltender to put the cap on the thrilling win.
“I just saw the guy coming down into our zone, and I didn’t want to let him get past me,” Fiehler said of the thunderous hit. “We’ve got a lot of guys from the football team out here, and I think that being aggressive on the football field transfers to lacrosse really well. And having played with those guys really helps our team unity.”
Fiehler led the scoring with four goals and a pair of assists, while Shimer added three goals and Blasius scored once. In goal, Kyle Stroud stymied the Golden Bears’ offense again and again to earn the victory.
“We had tryouts two weeks ago, so we only had one full week of practice to prepare for this game, so to get a win like that is solid,” Talley added. “This was a dream start to our season.”
All the hard work put in by so many parents, coaches and administrators finally came to fruition for the boys lacrosse program, but the start of the season was nearly derailed by an issue with the field.
“The game almost didn’t happen because the lines for boys lacrosse are different than they are for the girls,” Talley said. “But [VCHS Athletic Director] Mike Cummings came out here in the rain yesterday to paint the new lines so we could play.”
The Jaguars have a pair of away games next on the schedule—at Maranatha Christian at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday and at San Marcos at 5 p.m. on Monday—before they return home next Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. game against St. Augustine.
“Come out and support the team, it’s a lot of fun to watch,” Talley said. “If you come out once, I know you’ll be back.”
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