The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
In what looked like a regular season Moore League contest, both Long Beach Poly and Compton put their seasons on the line Tuesday evening.
The Jackrabbits hosted a rare league rematch in the first round of the CIF-SS boys’ lacrosse playoffs, and emerged victorious by a 9-2 margin after getting a tough challenge from their visitors from Hub City.
“Our defense came out and played one of our strongest games all year,” said Poly head coach John Gabriel after the win. “Just focus from the very start, which kept us in the game because our offense was struggling. (Compton) gameplanned well against us putting in a zone defense, and it just took our guys a while to kind of figure out how to beat the zone. And luckily, in the fourth, we kind of clicked and figured that out, and were able to kind of put it away.”
The Jackrabbits scored twice in each of the first two quarters to take a 4-0 lead into halftime, but Compton was able to take back some momentum late in the third quarter and into the final period. The visiting Tarbabes scored consecutive goals to but Poly’s lead down to 5-2 with about nine minutes left to play, but that’s when the Jackrabbits were able to pull away.
Poly scored the last four goals of the day, including a pair from Riley Melnick to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Senior Nathan Friedman scored both of his goals in the second quarter for Poly, and also added an assist in the first half. Lincoln King also scored twice for Poly, as they had six different players reach the scoresheet. Mason Peterson opened the scoring for the Jackrabbits and later assisted on a goal by Adi Lieber. Finally it was Roman Leonor who capped the scoring in the closing minutes.
“I think it was nice to play a team that we’ve played before, but I think we started off a little slow,” said Friedman of going against Compton for the third time this season. “I think we came off a little cocky, and they also had a zone defense, so it was a little hard to play out of that. But we got that spark in the fourth quarter, and we just couldn’t stop.”
Poly’s defense, led by the likes of Anthony Gaspar, Noel Gutierrez, and others, made it tough for the Compton offense to operate. Goalie Zeth Gonzalez made just four saves on the day as Compton was held without a shot attempt in the first quarter.
However, the visitors grew into the game offensively, getting nice efforts from guys like Bryan Lorenzo Moreno, Rayshawn McDaniel and Noe Perez to push forward and create some chances.
Lorenzo Moreno was able to crack the scoreboard in the final minute of the third quarter, getting the visitors some momentum heading into the final period. The Tarbabes struck first in the fourth as Perez had a nice drive and score to make it a three-goal game.
“It’s great,” said Compton head coach Keith Parkman of his team’s effort. “We’re young, and the Moore League was senior-heavy this year, but these guys didn’t even worry about that. They were just like, we’re here to play lacrosse, we’re here to stick to our coach’s game plan. And I’m just so proud of them for it. One thing we preached all year was effort. Go 100 percent. We don’t get mad if you fail if you go 100 percent, and that’s what they did the entire year.”
Parkman also praised the work ethic of junior goalie Richard “Sonny” Ramirez, who has been a leader for Compton all season and was exceptional in Tuesday’s game. He racked up an impressive 23 saves in the Compton goal, keeping his team in the game and giving them a chance to come back.
The veteran Jackrabbits advance to round two of the playoffs on Friday, when they will visit University High. Coach Gabriel is excited to see his team get a new challenge in the next round and is optimistic about his team’s chances in the D3 bracket.
“We’re super excited,” said Gabriel of Poly’s playoff future. “Just talking to other coaches and looking at scores, we’re a very evenly matched team with (University). I’ve also heard some rumblings of them being predicted to make it to the CIF finals. So it’s a big game for us, and it’s a winnable game. You’re looking at the whole bracket, there’s nobody we can’t beat. So it’s just a matter of us coming out, believing, and being able to win four in a row from here on out.”
