On Tuesday, March 23, the North Forsyth Raiders Varsity Lacrosse team faced off against the Dunwoody Wildcats in Raider Valley for a non-region game. 

Dunwoody started off strong, winning the opening face-off and scoring during their first possession of the game to take an early 1-0 lead. The Raiders bounced back quickly with four straight goals from the offensive stars, junior #8 Connor Ferguson and freshman #44 Bob Dennis. Dennis was responsible for three goals in the first quarter–completing the hat trick–which led to the Raiders ending the quarter with a promising three goal lead. 

Dunwoody fired back against a struggling North defense in the second quarter. They quickly scored five goals, taking a 6-5 lead at the half. Senior Captain #49 Carson Brown in goal said “the team needs to improve defensively, work more efficiently in practice and get more experience and a better understanding of the game”.

North’s frustrations continued into the third quarter as the Wildcats continued to pressure the Raiders. Dunwoody  had the ball in the offensive zone for most of the quarter, which propelled them to score five goals to North’s one.

 Late in the third, Brown came out of the game with a leg injury. Freshman goalie #28 Mathew Adkins took over to try and minimize the damage. 

Going into the fourth quarter the Raiders trailed 13-6. With a new goalie in the game, not much changed for the Raiders. They were able to score a couple goals; however, Dunwoody matched them. Despite Dennis’ hat trick and Ferguson’s solid performance, the Raiders came up short 15-8. 

Brown said, “[Even though we lost] we constantly build each other up by encouraging one another to be better than we were and we feed on that energy”. Brown and the Raiders have high hopes for their next game.