Glendale, AZ - Men's Lacrosse completed their double header homestand securing two victories against two well matched SLC opponents.
March 24th, 2023 vs Biola
 
 

	1	2	3	4	F
14 Arizona Christian (3-2)	5	5	2	2	14
9 Biola University (0-6)	2	3	1	3	9

 
 
GAME LEADERS
Pos                                           G          A          GB        FO
M         Caleb Schaapveld          6          3          7          -
FOS      Slater Richey                 3          3          12        13-9
LSM      Ryan Leonard                1          3          9          -
A          Connor Scott                 1          1          4          -
M         Amaari Laurence           0          0          8          -          
 
Pos                                           S          GA       S %
G          Levi St. Pierre                7          9          0.438
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
The Eagles came out swinging, riding hard getting two goals off the turf in the first quarter. The Firestorm found their composure and put together their own mixture of individual efforts and hard riding to finish out the half up 10-5. The second half continued on with both teams playing with minimal subs and allowing numerous turnovers. With the ball on the turf often, both teams found themselves in the penalty box often after scrappy fights for possession. The Eagles were able to capitalize, providing 4 of their 5 in the second half. Despite the Eagles best efforts, the Firestorm's even strength defense continued to hold them and Caleb Schaapveld put on a scoring show, pushing the Firestorm to the victory.
   
March 25th, 2023 vs UC Irvine
 
 

	1	2	3	4	F
11 Arizona Christian (3-2)	3	3	2	3	11
4 UC Irvine	1	1	1	1	4

 
GAME LEADERS
Pos                                           G          A          GB        FO
M         Caleb Schaapveld          5          2          9          -
FOS      Slater Richey                 2          0          6          13-2
A          Connor Scott                 1          3          4          -
LSM      Ryan Leonard                1          0          14        -
M         Amaari Laurence           0          0          7          -
 
Pos                                           S          GA       S %
G          Levi St. Pierre                15        4          0.789
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
After a win the prior night, the Firestorm had another test of endurance against the Anteaters in front of a packed sideline thanks to the local AZ Youth Lacrosse Night. ACU came out in the first half showing a united effort on offense, firing shots from all angles on the field. Despite this, UC Irvine's goalkeeper kept them hanging on, posting 19 saves in the game and limiting the Firestorm lead to just 4 at half. Face off specialist Slater Richey was dominant at the dot, only losing 2 of 15 draws, helping the Firestorm remain in control after every score. Those faceoffs did not come after many Anteater goals, thanks to the stand out performance by goalkeeper Levi St. Pierre, posting a 79% save percentage on 19 shots. Whether from far out, or in close, St. Pierre was seeing them all. Altogether, the Firestorm put together their most complete game yet, helping solidify their undefeated record at home.
   
 
Thoughts on the weekend from Head Coach Jake Landon:
"Simply put, anytime our guys can step on the field with a roster of 11-12 guys and battle through a full 4 quarters is a success for me. Having those games finish as wins on the record in our first season is just a bonus.  What these guys are achieving is bigger than any single game though. They stepped out in faith to join ACU in establishing a brand new program, have stuck it out through thick and thin, and it's just a surreal feeling getting to think about 5-10 years down the road looking back at this journey with them.

As far as the specifics of the games, I think we learned that we need to approach every game with the same mindset. Friday night we came out slow and it was a reflection of the level of effort  we thought we needed to put forth to be successful. We found the back of the net, but it was sloppy, and our guys didn't play to the fullest of their potential. But Saturday just felt different. It seemed to kick in for the guys that they needed to be intentional to push beyond their level of exhaustion and do the little things with excellence. You can't discredit how hard it is to play with two subs. But they bought in to love and serve their teammates next to them by working hard for ground balls, moving their feet more, and being unselfish with the ball on offense. It was like a whole different team on Saturday, and that was awesome to see the way they responded to our coaching staff's feedback.

We've got a special group of guys here. We're obviously young and a bit inexperienced, but that doesn't need to be a bad thing. It just makes every game an adventure and so fun to learn and grow with them."

Next Match:
The Firestorm will finish off the inaugural season with a neutral site match up against Cal State Fullerton in Flagstaff, AZ on the campus of Northern Arizona University on April 15th.

Roll Storm!