By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg varsity lacrosse team is 4-5-1 this season after a 14-1 win over Kalamazoo Central in its latest matchup. The team has had an up and down season after an opening day 15-10 win over Lansing Catholic. The Bulldogs lost their next three games against Holt, Traverse city Central, and Portage Northern before picking up their next win over Harper Creek.
Vicksburg tied 6-6 with Petoskey and then dominated Portage Central 17-0 before facing Mattawan on the road. It ended up being one of the toughest contests of the year. At first it looked like the Bulldogs would dominate early after Chase Wilcutt opened the scoring. It was 2-1 in the Bulldogs’ favor when Jonathan Hess helped put down a bouncing ball right in front of the net to make it 3-2.
Chase Willmont opened the scoring for Vicksburg in the second half, but the Wildcats came roaring back with a flurry of goals to take the lead 4-6. Long stick middie Dillyn VanHeukelum gave Vicksburg some momentum going into the half as he launched a shot on goal from near midfield as time was expiring. The shot sailed past the goalie just as the horn sounded to make the score 6-5 at the half.
The Bulldogs couldn’t maintain the momentum in the second half. Mattawan scored first to give themselves a two-goal lead. Vicksburg then had a bit of drought in the net before T.J. Murphy finally sailed one home. The Wildcats responded with two goals of their own to make it 12-7 going into the fourth.
Willcutt, Willmont, and Murphy all scored again in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the contest, which was delayed multiple times due to a lightning storm rolling into the area. Vicksburg ultimately lost the game 14-10.