Sudden death lacrosse match at Nation Ford a real heart-stopper
What a way to kick off the 2017 lacrosse season than a rematch from the 2016 Upper State championship.
Fort Mill and Nation Ford opened the season against each other and it certainly didn’t disappoint as the Falcons beat Fort Mill for the first time ever in the sport in an 11-10 sudden death overtime win.
“We finally got one,” said Falcons head coach Brian Holland, who is in his and the program’s sixth season.
Holland said the hangover from last year’s Upper State loss to Fort Mill at Bob Jones Stadium was still lingering for him and those players who were there last season.
The game looked as if it was going to be one sided as Fort Mill opened the game scoring the first five goals to go up 5-0 midway through the second quarter. Nation Ford got back into the game in the second quarter with goals from Darcy Muttillo and Alex Ramadanovic to make it 5-2 entering halftime.
The third quarter was a different story for both teams.
“They woke up at halftime,” Holland said. “They played hard. We had to play our best to compete with them.”
Fort Mill head coach Steve Nadolski said the second half was the biggest different for the Jackets.
“We fell apart in the second half,” he said. “We couldn’t execute.”
Turning point
Nation Ford scored with 1:46 left in the game on a goal from Zach Skidmore to tie the game at 10-10. From there, the Falcons held off an assault on the goal by Fort Mill in the final minutes, forcing the game into overtime. About two minutes into overtime, Jack McCullough secured the win and a hat trick for himself with the game winning goal.
Critical
Nation Ford outscored Fort Mill 7-2 in the third quarter and took a 9-7 lead entering the final quarter. Nick Catan scored all five of his goals in the third quarter to lead the rally for Nation Ford.
Star contributions
Catan scored five goals for Nation Ford to lead the team, while Fort Mill was led by Saxton Nelson, who led the Jackets with a hat trick.
On deck
Fort Mill will be on the road for a lengthy period of time and won’t play their first home match until March 9. They will be at Charlotte Latin and play against Wando at Irmo this week. Nation Ford will host Woodmont and Charlotte Latin, both in home matches, this week.
Box score
Nation Ford 11, Fort Mill 10 OT
Fort Mill 4;1;2;3;0;-10
Nation Ford 0;2;7;1;1;-11
SCORING SUMMARY
Fort Mill – Saxton Nelson 3, Conner Baucom 2, Ben Elia 2, Jack McGuire 2, Trenton Wylie
Nation Ford – Nick Catan 5, Jack McCullough 3, Darcy Muttillo, Alex Ramadanovic, Zach Skidmore
This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Sudden death lacrosse match at Nation Ford a real heart-stopper."