How’s this for a progress report?
The first time the Reeths-Puffer lacrosse team played Grand Rapids Christian this season, the Rockets had to rally from a seven-goal deficit and ended up winning a close one by two goals.
On Tuesday the teams met again, with much less drama. R-P jumped out to an 8-0 lead midway through the second quarter and cruised to a 12-3 victory to claim its ninth consecutive win.
The Rockets are now 9-3 overall and 8-0 in O-K Tier 3 conference play. They will host Jenison (8-1 in conference play) in a very big matchup on Thursday night.
Kyler Brainard led R-P with three goals and three assists while Carson Cooper, JT Fansler, Luke Callender and Brooks Johnson had two goals apiece.
R-P's Brooks Johnson
Johnson, Cooper, Brainard, Callender and Cohen Beck each scored in the first quarter and the Rockets led 5-0.
Fansler, Brainard and Johnson scored to make it 8-0 with 5:50 left in the second quarter before GR Christian finally got a goal. Brainard and Fansler answered with goals and R-P was up 10-1 at halftime.
The scoring was light in the second half, with the teams each finding the net twice. Cooper and Callender scored for the Rockets.
“We played great tonight,” said R-P Coach Josh Robidoux. “Defensively, the guys were playing and communicating extremely well all throughout the game. Two of GRC's goals came from quick transitions where we didn't have everybody back yet, but we shut down a lot of those opportunities tonight, too. Part of the reason for that is our offensive transitions are so effective, so our defense prepares for them all the time in practice.
“Offensively, we have so many guys that can score and feed. It's really great that we have options everywhere on the field and aren't constrained to just one or two guys. Everybody has their specialty and they're doing those jobs well right now.”