March 4 marked the boys varsity lacrosse team’s first game of the 2016 season. The Lancers hosted the Poway Titans at home, hoping to start off their season with a win.

The Lancers spent a multitude of hours on the practice field preparing for Friday’s game in the hopes of grabbing victory from Poway.

“We work six days a week Monday through Saturday for two and a half hours a day,” senior Josh Stark said.

This preparation fared them well for the first couple minutes of the game, but Poway netted an early goal, surprising the Lancers. This goal was followed a minute later by another Titan goal after a Lancer turnover.

The Lancer defense then settled down and weathered some aggressive play from the Titan offense. In response to Poway’s early two goals, senior Steven Ganelin scored, making the score 1-3. The Lancers were able to maintain offensive possession and quell some defensive pressure until Poway scored another goal, ending the first quarter with a score of 1-4 Titans.

The second quarter began with a quick Titan goal, but another goal from Ganelin kept Carlsbad in pursuit.

Both teams were able to sustain offensive pressure until the Titans scored twice in a short span, making the score 2-8. There was some visible aggression from the Lancers after some controversial calls by the referees and both teams went into half time with a 2-8 score in favor of the Titans.

Carlsbad started out the second half strong, as Ganelin netted a goal to make the score 3-8. The Titans maintained strong possession, though, scoring four goals to make the score 3-12. Amidst a series of accurate and sharp passing, the Lancers scored another goal to make the score 4-12.

Although the Lancer defense held strong, the Titans scored with 1:50 to go in the third quarter to make the score 4-13. Carlsbad started the fourth quarter off sustaining Titan pressure before bringing their offense forward and taking some shots.

The Lancers lost out to Poway with a score of 6-14 after a valiant effort against a strong team.

“We’re going to fix some offensive mistakes and bring the same heat defensively,” Stark said. “We played the best team in Southern California and hung with them so we’re looking good this year.”

The team hopes to put this loss behind them and looks forward to their goals for their season. They aim to maintain a strong record and win CIF.

“My freshman year we were CIF runner ups and won CIF my sophomore year,” Stark said. “It’s my senior year so we’re going to make it happen.”