2012 HP Lacrosse…..The Championship Journey

Highland Park Scots are the 2012 Lacrosse State Champions…..sure sounds good…..Highland Park Scots are the 2012 Lacrosse State Champions.

Great team play at the right time.  What a journey.

HP had a tough regular season with 4 wins and 7 losses.  Except for the Jesuit game, the losses were close (1 or 2 points).  We knew the HP team had great potential; but they had a tough time consistently putting together 4 quality quarters in a game.  The players and coaches never gave up and kept working hard all season to be a better team.

HP made the playoffs and since they did not have a high seed, they were going to have a tough playoff schedule.    HP would need to win 5 games to achieve a State Championship.   HP had only won 4 games during the regular season, so just winning a playoff game was the primary goal.  A State Championship was a glimmer of hope; but not on the radar at this point. 

1st game ESD at the ESD Field.   Winner of this game would advance to one of the Super Regional Playoff Tournaments (Dallas or Houston).  ESD had beaten HP during the regular season 11-10 in a close game.  The playoff game would be another close one…. HP was up 7-6 with less than 1 minute to play.....with 16 seconds to go, ESD scored the tying goal and sent the game to overtime.  1^st possession in overtime, HP scores and wins the game.   

Final score HP 8 - ESD 7....what a thriller... (well...we only thought this was a thriller).
Next stop....the Super Regional Playoff Tournament.   HP advanced to the Dallas Tournament hosted at Hillcrest High School.

2nd game Houston Woodlands.  Woodlands had a record of 15 wins and only 1 loss to Houston
Christian.  Woodlands had beaten HP during the regular season 8-6 in Dallas.  They were the #1 ranked team out of the Houston Region and one of the top 3 ranked teams in the State (only Jesuit and St. Marks were ranked higher).  Another great game and a win HP 10 – Woodlands 8. 

3rd game Austin High.  HP had beat Austin High early in the regular season by a score of 16-7, so we thought HP would win the game and they did… HP 11- Austin High 2. 

Next stop…the State Tournament in Austin.   4 teams advance to the State Tournament.

2 teams from the Dallas Super Regional (HP and Jesuit) and 2 teams from the Houston Super Regional (St. Marks and Houston Christian).  

The stage is set….the #1 seeded team for the tournament (Jesuit) will play the #4 seeded team (HP) and the #2 seeded team (St. Marks) will play the #3 seeded team (Houston Christian).  Winners of these 2 Saturday games will play for the State Championship on Sunday.

4th game Jesuit.    HP knew this was going to be a tough game.  Jesuit entered the playoffs as the #1 ranked team in the State and had an undefeated record of 14-0.  Jesuit played HP just 4 weeks earlier in the regular season and Jesuit won by a score of 14-7.  The HP players and coaches were ready.  HP was not the same team they were 4 weeks earlier…..the HP team play and skills were much stronger and the coaches prepared the team for what would be a tough State semi-final game.    Tough it was…..HP defense was stellar and the HP goalie had 15 saves…..the HP offense built up a 5-4 lead.  With 1 minute remaining HP had a penalty giving Jesuit a big advantage by having 1 more player on the field than HP.....the HP man-down defense held them off and HP won the State semi-final game HP 5 - Jesuit 4.  HP defeated what was the #1 ranked team in the State and advanced to the State Championship game on Sunday.    Not sure a game could be more exiting…..well the next day would be even more exiting.

5th game St. Marks.  St. Marks had defeated Houston Christian to advance to the State Championship.  St. Marks had a record of 14 wins and only 1 loss to Jesuit.  St. Marks entered the playoffs as the #2 ranked team in the State and the HP goal was for St. Marks to keep that ranking after the State Championship game.    St. Marks and HP played in the regular season in a tough and close game that St. Marks won 10-7.  The State Championship was a match-up of two great teams.  HP took an early lead and was looking very strong with a 3 goal lead and about 4 minutes to play.  St.Marks scored two quick goals; which brought the HP lead to only 1 goal.   So just to give all the HP fans a heart attack and to make sure the State Championship game was another thriller.....HP has a penalty with about 30 seconds left in the game giving St. Marks an advantage by having 1 more player on the field than HP.....again the HP man-down defense held them off and HP WINS THE 2012 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP…..HP 5- St. Marks 4.    The HP Players, Coaches and Fans had a great victory celebration. 

An unexpected Championship is sweeter than one you expect and is a tribute to the players and coaches that worked hard all season and played best during their playoff journey.  The result of the playoff journey is that the Highland Park Scots are the best Lacrosse team in the State of Texas and are the 2012 Lacrosse State Champions. 

Congratulations.

R. Crow

May 6, 2012