SILVERDALE — Klahowya’s stellar lacrosse season ended May 21 in a 12–4 quarterfinal loss to Richland, at Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale.
Tanner Ricketts scored six goals – three in a man-down situation early in the second quarter — and Hayden Ruckhaber had two goals and four assists as Richland bounded past Klahowya to earn a berth in the boys Division II lacrosse semifinals.
Richland built a 7–3 half-time lead on five second-quarter goals, then steadily pulled away from Klahowya — the No. 1 seed — with three goals in the third and two in the fourth.
Richland’s Vincent Sliva had a single goal along with four assists and led the Bombers on defense with 16 ground balls.
Klahowya’s Austin Keller connected for the first goal of the night, picking up where he left off after scoring the game-winner in the Eagles’ opening-round win over Inglemoor. The score was the first of two for the night for the senior midfielder.
From the game report: “Richland answered with two goals, ending the first quarter Richland 2, Eagles 1. Blindsided by a non-releasable illegal equipment penalty at the beginning of the second quarter, the Eagles played man down for 3 minutes, giving Richland the upper hand. Taking advantage of the Eagles’ man down, Richland’s Tanner Ricketts scored three goals, two assisted by Vinnie Sliva. Richland continued their momentum throughout the game.”
Klahowya’s Joe Hawley, averaging 3.5 goals-per-game this season, was held to a single goal for just the third time in 17 games for the Eagles.
Thus ended an 11-game winning streak for Klahowya, the Narrows/Olympic Conference champion. The team finished the year with a 15-2-0 record and with several players on the 74-team league’s top 10 lists for goals, assists, points per game, ground balls, and save percentage.
The 2016 Washington State Boys High School Lacrosse Championships take place May 28 at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.
Game Summary
Richland: 2, 5, 3, 2 = 12
Klahowya: 1, 2, 1, 0 = 4
Tanner Ricketts, R, 6 goals, 2 ground balls; Hayden Ruckhaber, R, 2 goals, 4 assists, 4 ground balls; Vincent Sliva; R, 1 goal, 4 assists, 16 ground balls; Matt Hoffman, R, 3 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball; Christian Matheson, R, 1 assist, 5 ground balls; Kyler Welch, R, 10 saves; Austin Keller, K, 2 goals, 3 ground balls; Joe Hawley, K, 1 goal, 1 ground ball; Justin Anderson, K, 1 goal, 1 ground ball, Kyle Bergmann, K, 12 saves.
