By Nathan Reck
The Coppell boys lacrosse team is poised and ready to defend its 2009 Division II state title following an undefeated pre-district record.
The team started the year with a 6-0 record and pre-district wins over multiple Division I teams. The Cowboys’ have already recorded big wins over Southlake Carroll, Houston Episcopal, Plano and Houston Kingwood. The team has also notched quality wins over out of state opponents St. Francis Xavier of Alberta, Canada and Ponderosa, Color.
“To this point we have beaten some quality Division I opponents pretty handily and have looked really strong as a team,” said senior Grant Neu
The team can credit its success and substantial average margin of victory to a stingy defense that has only allowed an average of around three goals per game. The defense is anchored by senior Payton Porter and juniors Brandon Mullins and Sam Johnston.
“The defense has been playing really well as a unit and has given the team a strong chance to win each game by keeping the other team away from the goal,” Porter said.
The offense has contributed equally impressive numbers behind a strong group of junior attackmen. The group is led by Tyler Landis, Preston Allison and Nate Hruby and has averaged near 10 goals a game.
Entering district play the team has high hopes thanks to early season wins against a number of Division I programs. The early success even has the team looking ahead to defending their state title.
“Our top goal for the season is to repeat at state and bring back another championship to Coppell,” senior Glen Gomez said. “With the start we have had this year anything can happen and we are feeling confident about our chances to repeat.”
With district play having just started the team is now focused on the Division II opponents that are in their district and are feeling extremely confident about their chances.
“In terms of competition our two top competitors are Plano West and Allen,” Gomez said.
The JV team has also looked strong up to this point as it has suffered only one loss on the season to Dallas Jesuit, 6-3. The JV team has managed to win games against Flower Mound, Dallas Episcopal, Plano East Southlake and Plano. So as the team looks to the future it appears that the Cowboys’ lacrosse program is in line for continued success over the next couple of years as a strong foundation of success has been developed over the past couple of years.
