HUNTINGTON BEACH – In a game where emotions were running high all night, it was the steadiness of sophomore Bronson Ban and the play of goalie Tommy Leone that helped lead the Los Alamitos boys lacrosse team Wednesday night.
Ban scored a pair of goals and was strong on face-offs, and Leone made nine saves for Los Alamitos in a 7-2 victory over Huntington Beach.
“I felt we won time of possession and I thought my defense and goalie played well,” Los Alamitos coach Chris Jewett said. “We just need to bury more shots. We have to take better shots on offense.
“We can possess the ball, we can win face-offs, our defense looks good, we just need to take better shots.”
Los Alamitos (5-4, 2-1) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter as James Campion and Andy Barnett each scored a goal, and Joey Weinman scored two.
The Griffins led, 4-1, at halftime.
The Oilers (6-4, 0-2), who kept the game close thanks to the work of goalie Grady Mercier, trimmed the deficit to 5-2 with a goal from Alec Lowman in the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Griffins sealed the victory on goals from Matt Fanelli and Ban. Ban’s earlier goal came in the third quarter.
“I thought we played well,” Ban said. “We handled the ball very well, we cleared well and we had great possessions.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Oilers had two man-advantage situations, but failed to create any offense. Moments later, Fanelli scored for a 6-2 lead with 4:18 remaining.
The game was stopped with 5.1 seconds left after a skirmish broke out between the two teams. The officials did not allow the teams to participate in the traditional end-of-the game handshake line.
The teams meet again Tuesday at Los Alamitos.
