By Alex Tam
The Wilsonville boys lacrosse team continues to improve game after game.
And right now, the Wildcats have to be considered among one of the favorites for the state championship as they continued their league-high 10 game winning streak with Friday’s 16-5 victory over Century at Wilsonville High School.
Tigard and Wilsonville currently have the longest winning streaks in the state at 10, and the Wildcats look to make it 11 in a row Tuesday at home in the regular season finale against winless Hillsboro.
Wilsonville has earned an automatic bye in the first round of the state playoffs, and will host a second-round game Tuesday, May 20, at home against either Lake Oswego or defending state champion Lakeridge at 7 p.m.
“The win against Century was an important one for us in that they were probably the last real test we’re going to meet before we see what could be either Lakeridge or Lake Oswego depending on how the Three Rivers League settles out,” Wilsonville coach Chad Cowan said.
Friday’s game provided a rematch between two teams that Cowan admitted was “chippy” during their last meeting, which saw Wilsonville prevail on the road, 6-4, on April 23.
And despite being without on of their top players in attacker Matt Yavorsky, the Wildcats were led by seven players who scored led by Chad Wilbur’s four goals off five shots on goal.
Andrew Conway tallied three goals and four assists and Alec Jernstedt had three goals and three assists. Rob Nicholas chipped in two goals, Bradford Patey had two goals and one assist, and Jesse McVay and Mark Iliyn each had one goal.
Wilsonville was also without its defensive leader Jay Myers, who is out after suffering a broken thumb in a win over Glencoe on April 15.
“With the changes in personnel that we had, I’m particularly pleased with Rob Nicholas and the balance of the attack team stepped up and the midfield as well,” Cowan said.
Cowan also credited the defensive play of Austin Kane, Rudy Campollo and Ian Henry to holding teams to just nine goals in the last three games of their current homestand.
Cowan said his team traveled to watch the Lake Oswego, Lakeridge game last week for scouting, and added that he would prefer to take on the team that they already faced this season rather than the unknown.
“Having played Lake Oswego already, I’d just assume to take them on again because we know them,” he said. “Otherwise, Lakeridge will be a challenge and either team will be a challenge for that matter.”
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