The Gilmour Academy varsity boys lacrosse team had an uplifting finish to their regular season as they defeated a strong Kenston team 13-7 on Senior Day.
Kenston had previously claimed the third seed in its postseason region, two spots ahead of Gilmour, but it was the Lancers that looked more playoff ready in each team's regular-season finale.
Prior to the game, Gilmour honored eight seniors for their contributions to the school and the lacrosse program: Tanyon Bajzer '21, Robby Belknap '21, Dylan Dekoe '21, Ethan Henry '21, Nick Kolar '21, Nick Larrabee '21, Kessel Richards '21 and Tate Simpson '21.
A pair of those seniors, Bajzer and Richards, played key roles in leading the Lancers to the win. Bajzer finished with a team-high five goals while Richards tallied 15 saves in the cage in the win.
Belknap opened the scoring on Senior Day, part of three straight GA goals to open the game. After Kenston closed the gap to 4-3 early in the second quarter, the Bajzer brothers took over for Gilmour.
Tanyon Bajzer '21 and Cam Bajzer '22 combined to score four consecutive goals to end the half to give Gilmour a little breathing room at the intermission.
Kenston scored the first three goals of the second half to pull within two and trailed by three after three quarters of action.
After a long period without either team scoring early in the fourth, Gilmour finally put the game away with back-to-back late goals by Tanyon Bajzer.
Cam Bajzer had a team-high six points on two goals and four assists. Simpson tallied two goals and an assist in the win while Shea Hofstrom '22 also scored twice.
The contest against Kenston was the third of the week for Gilmour as the Lancers had knocked off Lake Catholic High School 18-6 before dropping a 9-6 matchup against Avon Lake High School.
Eleven distinct Lancers found the net in the team's regular season road finale at Lake Catholic.
Cam Bajzer led the way offensively with four goals and five assists. Dekoe (3g, 1a) and Simpson (2g, 2a) each posted a four-point effort. Belknap (1g, 1a), Larrabee (2g) and Luke Radke '23 (1g, 2a) also had multiple points in the win.
Richards and Rocco Hice '23 combined for the win in goal.
In the setback to Avon Lake, both Bajzer brothers scored twice while Nate Dowling '22 (2a) and Larrabee (1g, 1a) both contributed multiple points.
Gilmour's junior varsity team had a pair of games to close its season last week. The Lancers tallied a 7-0 shutout over Avon Lake before dropping an 8-1 contest to Kenston.
In the JV's win over Avon Lake, Johnny Maruna '24 tallied a game-high three goals. Zach Wolfe '22 scored twice while Paul Dean '24 and Brennan Friedman '23 also scored. Hice registered the shutout in goal.
Although the Lancer JV team did drop its final game of the season to Kenston, the squad still finished with an impressive 10-3 record on the season.
#GoGA #WeAreGilmour