St. Francis ends win streak of Southview

Chris Thomas, right, of St. Francis is pressured by Southview's Eric Finch as he moves on the attack in championsip match.

The Blade/Amy E. Voigt
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St. Francis de Sales handed Southview its first loss of the season and also won the Toledo Area Lacrosse Association title last night.

The Knights (11-1) wore down the Cougars (10-1) with patience and good goaltending from senior Al Kenzie in an 11-8 victory. St. Francis avenged an early season loss before about 400 spectators at Ottawa Hills High School.

St. Francis senior midfielder Scott Loy scored four goals and senior attack Will Hartkopf tallied three goals to win the fifth annual TALA tournament.

"We've been working on this since we were freshmen," Loy said of the 17 seniors. "We figured this was our year. We came to play and Al had a great game in goal."

Kenzie was solid throughout, finishing with 17 saves. Senior midfielder Mike Darcangelo added two goals, while senior Austin Pavain and junior Chris Thomas added a goal each.

Southview won the first meeting 15-10.

"We were not so tight and we weren't too intense," St. Francis coach Chris Pavain said. "We were patient. We moved the ball around and made the extra pass."

The Knights, who play in Division II, are currently ranked No. 9 in the combined DI and DII state poll. The Division I Cougars are ranked 11th.

St. Francis' Scott Loy looks for a pass in the Knights' victory over Southview. Loy had four goals in the win.

Southview senior attackers Branden Yoshino and Zach Jackson each scored three goals. Seniors Drew Stansley and Thomas Stichter also scored for the Cougars, who trailed 6-3 at the half.

"We made too many mistakes," Southview coach Ross Mellgren said. "We didn't make passes. We don't have the numbers they have and it took a toll."

Loy got the Knights on the board at the 8:12 mark of the first quarter. Loy bounced in a shot by freshman goalie Tim Schlacter, who also was solid. The Cougars responded 29 seconds later on Jackson's quick shot and it was tied at 1 after one quarter.

Schlacter, who is playing lacrosse for the first time, made three great saves in the first quarter.

Southview went up 2-1 just 1:43 into the second quarter when Yoshino scored.

But Darcangelo answered 47 seconds later, tying it at 2 with a blistering shot.

St. Francis then went up by one on Hartkopf's power play goal with 7:30 left in the first half. Minutes later Yoshino scored his second of the night to it at 2 for the Cougars.

The turning point came when Loy, Hartkopf, and Chris Thomas tallied three unanswered goals to give the Knights a 6-3 edge. Hartkopf and Thomas scored power play goals a minute apart.

Loy scored unassisted 2:01 into the third quarter for a 7-3 Knight lead.

Contact Mark Monroe at:

mmonroe@theblade.com

or 419-724-6354.