LINCOLN WINS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
If you were going to write a perfect script for the ultimate State Championship game, what would your story line be?
Championship team dominates the game on the way to victory? In a remarkable display of heart and grit a team fights it's way back from a large deficit? After a tough game a team scores the go ahead goal with 1:37 left on the clock? A team comes from behind to score the tying goal with 8 seconds left in the game? The championship game goes into overtime to decide the final outcome? Double overtime?
While all of these scenarios on their own would make a great story, combining all of them would seem to be a bit too much, wouldn't it? Or not?
The 2010 OHSLA State Championship game combined all of these storylines in what was an incredible, intense, and, at times, improbable game, leaving the fans in a jam packed Tualatin High School stadium drained from watching this emotional game.
While the Sunset Apollos got on the scoreboard first, Lincoln came back with a vengance, scoring seven unanswered goals before Sunset scored their second goal of the night with 4:06 left in the second quarter, leaving the score 7-2 in Lincoln's favor, at the half. It was beginning to look like this highly anticipated game would be an uneventful blowout.
Lincoln scored again at the beginning of the 3th quarter, leaving the score 8-2 before Sunset finally got their offense untracked. Incredibly, Sunset went on to score six unanswered goals, tying the score at 8-8 as the 4th quarter wound down. Then, with 1:37 left in the game, Lincoln scored the go ahead goal, bringing an end to Sunset's scoring streak, and, perhaps their championship dreams. This late game goal would have broken the spirit of most teams, as the emotional let down can be devastating. Sunset, however, is not "most teams". After a timeout with 53 seconds left in the game, the Apollos came back to tie the game with 8 seconds left, sending half of the crowd into a frenzy, while the other side sat silent and stunned.
In the first overtime, the scoring chances went back and forth, with the crowd alternately screaming and gasping as their team came close to scoring the winning goal, or barely held off being scored upon themselves. As time ran out on the first overtime the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief as they relaxed a bit from the tension of this energized game and got themselves prepared for the second overtime.
The second overtime was more of the same, as both teams had excellent scoring chances that barely missed, and the crowd worked itself into a fever pitch as the game wore on. The noise on the field was absolutely deafening. Then, suddenly, with 2:27 left in the second overtime, Lincoln sophomore Grant Clifford scored his 4th goal of the evening, sending the Lincoln student body spilling out on the field in jubilation, while the Sunset fans sat stunned. It was all over, and Lincoln had won it's second State Championship in the past three years.
This was a fantastic game between two incredibly talented teams. Congratulations to the Lincoln Cardinals for winning the 2010 OHSLA State Championship. Congratulations also to the Sunset Apollos, for an extremely successful season. In the end, this was a game that could have gone either way.
The OHSLA would like to thank Tualatin High School for the use of their great facility, and also the Tualatin Lacrosse boosters for all of their hard work in making the Final Four tournament run so smoothly.
The 2010 Final Four tournament was incredibly successful. We had great teams competing, and a fantastic turnout of fans. This will be a tough tournament to beat in the future.
Video tapes of the OHSLA Final Four games are available from Northwest Game Films www.nwgamefilms.com
Action photos of the OHSLA Final Four games are available from Northwest Sports Photography www.4nsp.com
ALL STATE AND US LACROSSE ALL AMERICANS
Go to the NEWS section to find this years All State and US Lacrosse All American selections.
