Tues. April 9, 2019 the Solon Boys Lacrosse (Lax) team played Strongsville in their first conference game. The Lax team is led by their senior captains: Mark Phillips, Michael Rapposelli, Michael Laubser and Michael Zinnamon.  

The Comets were looking to bounce back after a loss against Jackson in which they scored nine goals in the last quarter. The Comets won the game 9-8 and senior Michael Zinamon agreed this was a much needed win.

“I actually didn’t play the last two games because I had the flu, but this win was so important because it will be increasing our confidence and energy going into the next [game],” Zinamon said.

Zinamon scored five of the Comet’s nine total goals in the game. He was assisted by Trysten Zahoransky once, Billy Furlong twice, Ben Gullia on three of those five.  

The team defense started off well with goalie Michael Rapposelli saving well over a dozen shots on goal in the first half and even more in the second.  

Aiden Riga, one of the three starting defensive players, chipped in three takeaways and several blocks to help move the ball to the other end of the field, but even the support of the defense couldn’t stop the Mustangs at first as the Comets were down 3-2 going into the second quarter.  

The Mustangs then increased their lead to three with 3:19 left in the first half, but Solon responded quickly afterwards scoring three times in the last three minutes. After the second horn, the score was tied 5-5.

Coach David Blue gave the team some extra motivation during halftime that they needed to attempt to play 1 on 1 against Strongsville.  

“We said ‘You guys need to match up and take your man by yourself and beat him to the goal,’” Coach Blue said.

The halftime speech helped them add to their total score with 9:37 left in the third quarter thanks to Midfield player Michael Laubscher. Furlong and Zinamon also contributed scores in the third quarter bringing the score to 8-6 going into the fourth quarter.  

The fourth quarter is when the game picked up speed with both teams scoring three total goals in the first two minutes.  With 10:04 left in regulation, the Comets were up 9-8 on the Mustangs.

“We wanted to slow the game down,”Coach Blue said “When there are a lot of up and downs that gives a lot of opportunity for us to mess up or the other team to score.”

The Comets proceeded to hold the ball out for the remaining five minutes of the game to secure the win, but a long pass led to a Mustang possession with 3 minutes left. The coach from Strongsville called a timeout with 2:39 left.

The Mustangs ran a play in which they would have two men cut to the side and one cut towards the goal.  This play got them a goal earlier in the game, but Rapposelli was prepared and blocked the shot from five feet away, and secured the ball for the Comets who then gained possession for the last two minutes.

With :29 felt in the game, Laubscher almost stepped out of bounds but luckily,  Coach Blue called a timeout just before.

“I wanted to calm everyone down and have them relax,” Coach Blue stated, “We gave it to Mike Laubscher, into a senior stick and said ‘Mike you have to make the plays.’”

Laubscher did just that, outrunning the Mustangs for the last :29 of regulation to secure the Comets second win of the season.

“If they work hard as a unit they will have success,” Coach Blue said.

The Comets Lacrosse team will play another home game Fri. April 12 against the Rocky River Pirates.