Birmingham United Lacrosse Advances to Regional Semifinals

BIRMINGHAM – The Birmingham United boys lacrosse team was determined not to be one-and-done this season.

Birmingham lost 16-3 to Holland West Ottawa in pre-regionals a year ago and the returning varsity players didn’t forget the early playoff exit.

“The guys who came back from last year remembered how much that hurt,” senior J.D. Hess said. “We used that and we stepped up.”

The whole team stepped up Thursday in the first round of regionals with a comfortable 16-7 win over Saline at at .

Birmingham controlled the game for long stretches and maintained a decent lead from the first quarter on.

In the second half, the Hornets went nearly 25 minutes without scoring a goal. Saline defenders struggled to get possession off the ball from Birmingham’s attackers. Birmingham was content to work the ball around the field and patiently wait for an opening.

“Our kids did a nice job of shot selection and playing as a team on offense,” coach Burton Engel said. “I thought they really moved the ball well, spread it around, a couple of guys could’ve had a few extra goals, but it was a nice team victory.”

Eight Birmingham players scored at least once. John Quay had a team-high five goals while Hess had four goals and two assists.

Hess delighted the crowd in the second quarter with two impressive scoring plays.

On the first goal, the senior created an opportunity by running the ball out from behind the net and as he crossed in front of the goal he left his feet. He shot the ball in midair right past Saline goalie Austin Burd.

“I wish he did that move a little more often,” Engel said, smiling.

A few minutes later, Hess put Birmingham up 7-4 with an absolute strike from 10 yards out. He shot a laser into the back of the net before Burd could even get his stick up with 5:18 to go in the half.

Quay did most of his damage after halftime. He scored three of his five goals after the break, two of which came within eight seconds of each other on fastbreaks.

“As much as we shared the ball a lot offensively, the boys do well in transition,” Engel said. “When we pick up loose balls and run with it, that’s probably when we are the most dangerous.”

The back-to-back goals seemed to slam the door on any comeback hopes the Hornets had.

Saline scored in the opening minutes of the third to make it 9-5, but Quay’s goals gave Birmingham an 11-5 lead at the 9:09 mark.

The Hornets didn’t score again until Brad Harris his third goal with 8:25 left in the game.

Birmingham advances to play a Novi team that beat Ann Arbor Skyline 12-7 on Wednesday. The teams will play at Novi High School on Tuesday at 6 p.m.