CEDARBURG — Thursday was Senior Night for the Cedarburg boys lacrosse team against Oconomowoc, and the Bulldogs used the emotion of the big day to build an early lead on the way to earning a 13-4 victory.
“It was a big win for us, Senior Night, so obviously we wanted to show up for the seniors and play well for them. We have a lot of seniors on this team and they played great tonight,” Cedarburg head coach Pete Picciolo said. “Big performances by a lot of our seniors, Sean Callen, Mac Ladd, Sean Dingle, it was great to see that and great to get a win for them.”
The trio of Callen, Dingle and Ladd combined for nine goals and four assists for the Bulldogs.
Dingle netted a hat trick in the opening period and Ladd added a score in the frame as Cedarburg scored the first two goals of the contest and built a 4-1 lead by the end of the stanza.
“He’s been great. He’s been one of our go-to middies as a senior. He’s been great at the faceoff all year for us,” Picciolo said about Dingle. “Tonight he had a great game and showed what he had. He’s been a rock for us and kind of an all-around player. He’s really helped out a lot of the younger and other guys on the team.”
It was just the start the Bulldogs were looking for, as Oconomowoc was only able to come up with one goal by Carter Kopischkie midway through the opening period.
“Very talented player. He plays several positions for us. Real talented,” Oconomowoc head coach Fredrick Hohensee said about Kopischkie. “He’s going to be a real, real good player in the future, and he is now, already.”
Cedarburg struck for three quick goals in the second period. Nate Nelson, Ladd and Nels Marston all tucked home shots as the lead expanded to 7-1 by the middle of the frame.
Marston, who assisted the final goal of the opening quarter by Dingle, helped Nelson on his tally to start the second in the second stanza, then added a goal five minutes into the session to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the half.
“We typically don’t see a ton of points out of him,” Picciolo said. “He’s got great stick skills, he’s great moving the ball.
“It was great to see him get into everything tonight and be a big contributor, just putting himself in the right spots on the field and other guys on the field getting the ball to him and putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Hohensee said the Raccoons did what it could to hold on as the Bulldogs built the early lead before the visitors made a comeback late in the half.
“We got off to a slow start,” Hohensee admitted. “I think our defense played with them as much as they could and it was a tough game, but the boys went out there and hustled and played well.”
Oconomowoc pulled within 7-3 by the break thanks to scores by Landon Cass and Brayden Buttweiler.
“We fought back to get it to 7-3 and felt we had a good chance. We’ve made some come from behind wins in the past, and we said we’re still in the ballgame,” Hohensee said. “In the third quarter, the game got away on us.”
Picciolo felt the break came along at the right time for the Bulldogs, who pulled away in the second half.
“We didn’t change anything,” the Cedarburg coach said. “I think with it being Senior Night and with that halftime, having a little bit of extra time, it’s all about focusing back up and making sure we get the job done and doing what we need to do.”
Cedarburg got a pair of goals from Callen early in the third quarter to push the advantage back to a six-goal margin at 9-3.
“He’s been a guy we’ve always kind of turned to and it was great to see him get on the board and get some points up tonight and really be a big producer for us,” Picciolo said.
Oconomowoc tallied with two minutes remaining in the third quarter to make the score 9-4, but that proved to be the final time the visitors would put the ball in the net.
Cedarburg pulled away over the final 14 minutes, with Ladd striking twice to complete his Senior Night hat trick.
“He’s another kid we’ve leaned on all year. He’s got great stick skills,” Picciolo said. “He’s been a real physical player for us this year, probably why he’s been banged up, but he’s not afraid to get in there and really use his body and kind of get in those dirty areas to get the job done. He’s had a good year.”
The coach added that winning was a fitting tribute for the Bulldogs’ seniors.
“They’ve definitely been very influential, not just this year, but in years past with getting a lot of their buddies out and stuff and really growing the program. A lot of them have been really good role models to some of our younger guys, and just day in and day out at practice kind of showing them what it’s like to compete at the varsity level,” Picciolo said. “Really leading by example and making sure we're doing what we need to do.”
On Friday, the Bulldogs went to Franklin to complete a game that was suspended early in the season and Cedarburg finished off a 10-6 victory. Ladd had five goals in that win, with Dingle and Charlie Burghardt each adding two to that triumphant effort.
The Bulldogs, now 8-5 overall, will wrap up the regular season today at Homestead for a game scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
