BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Clarkston Boys Varsity Lacrosse team hustled and fought hard in their close 7-6 loss to Northville on Saturday during Game for Hope.
“This is definitely the longest game we have played,” said Keelan McKouen. “We held it together in all four quarters. We didn’t let any slip.”
Keagan King agreed, adding, “we kept our composure. We played through it. We didn’t listen to what the other team was telling us. We played through it and tried our best.”
“We played every quarter,” Joel LaBruzzy noted. “I don’t think even for a few seconds we weren’t out there doing something.”
The Wolves made shots on the net in the first quarter but they didn’t get in until 24 seconds remaining in the first quarter when Jack Gurn struck in front of the net.
Northville shot back with three goals in the second quarter and the first half closed, with them in the lead, 3-1.
The Wolves made a quick run into Northville’s territory and McKouen scored 12 seconds into the third quarter off an assist from Jaydon Septor.

Eric Csizmadia tied the score with 8:50 left in the quarter before Dakota Locher put another in the goal 42 seconds later to put the Wolves at a 4-3 lead.
“I went down just after half time and it started a spark,” McKouen said. “Everyone started to get nuts and we were hooting and hollering. We always need that spark.”
“We kept playing for each other,” King added.
Northvilled tied the score at four points. King brought Clarkston back into the lead, scoring with 3:24 left in the quarter.
The opposing team tied the game eight seconds into the final stanza before Sam Lightfoot scored his successful shot to put the game 6-5 with 10:35 remaining.
The boys now prep for the rest of the regular season and the post season.
“We have come together amazingly,” McKouen said about the growth of the team. “We started out fairly slow. We were young and we knew we would struggle. We are coming together as a team. We have boys staying after an hour just to make sure we are working on our game. We are going to be a threat.”
Csizmadia added each day the team shows improvement.
“We have our upperclassmen always helping out with the sophomores and freshmen,” he said. “Every day we are getting better and better even though our record doesn’t show it. We are going to change that around.”
“The underclassmen, juniors, sophomores even freshman, are stepping up in the biggest way possible,” LaBruzzy added. “This team wouldn’t be close to where it is without them. We are always talking about the whole season is preparing for the post season. This game is just another big step in that process.”
The boys host Oxford on Wednesday for Senior Night. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows. They head to Stoney Creek on Friday and are back home on Monday when they host Cranbrook. JV begins at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Boys Lacrosse, Game for Hope