BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Wolves rallied against Lake Orion on Monday night for the OAA Red Championship and won, 8-7.
“We are feeling confident,” said Clarkston Boys Varsity Lacrosse Head Coach Brian Kaminskas going into the game. “We had a good weekend of rest. We had a light recovery workout on Saturday. These guys are focused and determined.”
He added Lake Orion is as strong as ever and both were looking to win the league championship with a win.
“They are looking good,” Kaminskas said. “They always do. They’re deep on offense and they have some big menacing poles on defense. It will be interesting. They like a good physical game. They like a slower game. We like the physical game but a faster game. It will be a chess match for the coaches and the players as well.”
Evan McClorey led the team with two goals and three assists. Zaiden Green and Blake Berry each had two goals. Ellis York and Ryan Phyle each scored one goal. Karl Wandrie had 11 saves in the net.
The Wolves finished last week with a 9-5 win over Grand Blanc on Friday.
“Given our current challenges being injured and somewhat short rostered I think the guys are playing quite well given their current challenges,” said Kaminskas. “We were down a couple of guys with injuries. On top of that, a lot of nagging injuries, things that aren’t going to go away during the season. It starts up after a while – a couple of knees, a couple of ankles. It starts to take a toll and performance goes down a little bit. They are overcoming it quite well. They are at the point now if one guy can’t play, the next has to step up and perform. As a group, they have rallied around them in doing that.”
McClorey led the team with three goals. Ellis York and Tyler Cray each scored two goals. Ryan Berry and Blake Berry each had one goal and one assist. Phyle and Michael Ferman each had two assists. Wandrei had six saves in the net.
Kaminskas added standouts for the night were McClorey and Rayce Septer.
“They had unbelievable second halves at Grand Blanc,” he said. “Without those two, we would have lost the game.”
Clarkston opened the week with a 11-3 win over OAA Red foe Rochester Adams, April 26.
“They played well against Adams,” Kaminskas. “It was an all around win with Caden Ladd standing out.”
The Highlanders took the lead in the first quarter by scoring one goal. The Wolves outscored their opponents 5-1 in the second quarter to take the lead.
“We were a little slow to start. Once we got our footing, there wasn’t a lot of looking back,” Kaminskas said. “It was an OAA game and one of our goals this year is to go undefeated in the OAA and they were in the way of that. The guys settled down and took care of business.”
McClorey led with five goals. Ryan Berry had three goals and one assist. Septer, Phyle and Martindale each scored one goal. Ellis York, Blake Berry and Cray each had one assist.
The Wolves head into a busy week and Kaminskas added the team just has to get through the physical end of the game.
“Mentally the guys are all in,” he added. “We have brought in a yoga instructor once a week to give these guys more of a stretch and physical recovery during the week. Right now it’s all physical. We are getting to that second half of the season where the body starts to breakdown and takes it’s toll. How we manage that will determine how we do over the next couple of weeks.”
The Wolves host St. Andrew on Friday, with JV playing at 5:30 p.m., varsity following.
“It’s one of our relationship games,” Kaminskas said. “We will go there next year. Like all Canadian teams they are traditionally strong. They have been down a little bit because of COVID and all their restarts. It’s a good, fun experience to play those guys.”
Clarkston (12-0) hosts Romeo on Saturday.
“They have a quality program,” Kaminskas said. “They gave us fits last year.”
The Wolves hosts Saline on Tuesday, May 10. JV plays at 5:30 p.m., varsity follows.

  Boys Lacrosse