Sports
Highlanders Lax Scorches Tamalpais
Despite inclement weather Piedmont storms to a 14-9 victory in the first round of the NCS playoffs.
The Star: Piedmont's Jack Lally's finished off his hat trick with a spectacular behind-the-back shot that left the crowd awed.
The Turning Point: After halftime the Highlanders took their four goal lead and doubled it before Tamalpais could muster any sort of response.
Bottom Line: Tamalpais was mismatched from the start of the game. They did have a few offensive flashes, but those were few and far in between.
Find out what's happening in Piedmontfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
What's Next: The Highlanders play at Marin Catholic this Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
-------
Find out what's happening in Piedmontfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
With the rain bleating down in the third quarter, the team was able to break Tamalpais High School's back and go into cruise control. The Highlanders scored four unanswered goals coming out of halftime en route to a 14-9 victory Tuesday in the first round of the NCS playoffs.
The final score does a disservice to the Highlanders' dominating play on the night. The game never felt close. The No. 10 Hawks (7-10, 3-5 Marin County Lacrosse) got a handful of their goals only after junior varsity players went into the game for Piedmont in the middle of the fourth quarter.
The Highlanders were able to create a cushion in the first half that paved the way for their easy victory. Piedmont's defense gave very few opportunities for Tamalpais to test Highlander goalie Henry Anderson. Time and time again Piedmont was able to take advantage of poor ball-handling, which directly led to more offensive chances of their own.
“We played smart,” Piedmont senior Jack Lally said. “I don't think we ran any offensive plays because we didn't want to give Marin Catholic anything to go off of. It was all off of exploiting the defense and intuitive play.”
Lally was alluding to Piedmont's round two opponent: Marin Catholic. The No. 7 Highlanders (13-9, 7-3 BSAL) actually beat the No. 2 Cats earlier in the season by a score of 18-8.
The Highlander's intuitive offense Tuesday night was punctuated by Lally, himself. In what was the highlight of the game, Lally nailed a behind-the-back shot off an assist from none other than his younger brother, Peter Lally.
“I cut around the goal and he gave me a pass that was too far in front of the goal so I put it around my back,” Lally said.
That play is the first, and likely the only time the Lally brothers will connect for a goal in high school.
After going up 2-0 in a relatively pedestrian first quarter, Piedmont went full steam ahead on the offensive end.
Between 9:58 and 7:53 to play in the second quarter four different Piedmont players were able to get in on the scoring. Zane Myers, who notched his first goal in the first quarter, was instrumental in the offensive onslaught. Not only did he add to his tally, but he also assisted on the goal that put the Highlanders up 6-0.
Tamalapais finally ended their scoring draught with 6:43 left in the second quarter. Midfielder Casey Hogan put a nifty move on his defender to give himself a clear shot at goal.