Cardiac kids hang on to finish sweep of Wildcats 8-6

For the second game in a row, Sussex Academy boys’ lacrosse relied on an early surge to hang on for a win over a Henlopen South opponent. This time, Delmar came to town April 4 for a Friday night battle under the lights and left with an 8-6 loss.

“They're going to be called the cardiac kids,” Seahawks coach Andrew Fox said. “They want to be explosive early and then kind of go to sleep for a second and then hunker down when it needs to happen.”

Delmar tallied the only goal of the first quarter, but an illegal stick penalty locked in Sussex Academy’s extra-man offense for the first two minutes of the second quarter. Sophomore Gideon Sammons struck first 18 seconds into the frame before senior Ben Warren gave the Seahawks a 2-1 lead less than a minute later. Taco Meszaros, who went 14 for 15 on face-offs, showed off his crank with a beauty to double Sussex Academy’s lead and wrap up the penalty with a 3-1 advantage. 

Freshman Clayton Emplit ended the first half by scoring two goals, following a Delmar timeout, to give Sussex Academy a 5-1 lead at the end of the half.

“Taco on face-offs was crushing it; Jackson Hagy was absolutely coming up big when we needed him to,” Fox said.  “Clayton was the surprise guy out here, being ready to put shots in. He did say he's gonna get a hat trick today, and he got the hat trick today – that says says something about him.”

Emplit completed his hat trick late in the third quarter after Delmar opened the second half with two goals, so the quarter ended with the Seahawks up 6-3.

“I didn't know it was gonna happen,” Emplit said. “I just kind of had to manifest it, and then I guess it worked because I had three of them tonight.”

Prior to the game, Emplit was playing catch with his dad and gave him some credit.

“A lot of it is my father because before the game, just driving up here talking to him – because everything lacrosse related, I do with my father – and he gives me the confidence to go out there and do my thing,” Emplit said.

The freshman was pressed into duty following a few injuries.

“Cooper Hagy goes out, so Clayton has to go down to attack; that loses another midfielder. Then Ben Warren goes down, so we take Gideon, put him down on attack, that’s another midfielder. So we went from three midfield lines to two quickly,” Fox said. “Taco stepped up to play some offense as well and Aidan Velar stepped up, placing them both offense as well.”

Despite Delmar’s physicality, the Seahawks believe they won the mental battle.

“We handled it great; we didn't talk back to them after big hits or anything,” Meszaros said. “We just kept our heads up and played our game.”

A few other Seahawks were earning their wings in the midfield, while others showcased their durability.

“Michael Whitaker in his first serious varsity time kind of held it down for us when we needed him to,” Fox said. “A lot of guys did step up here that we needed to. Josh (Jovel-Velasquez) again doesn't come off the field ever, so those things are always big that we need to have.”

Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, Delmar pulled within one, 6-5. Anthony Tattoli got on the goal sheet with his first while junior Chase Ballinger, who had four assists, blasted one in from just inside the box to make it 8-5 with just over two minutes to play.

Following a Delmar timeout, the Wildcats scored to make it 8-6, but could not get any closer.

“Defense hunkered down when we needed to; I made the saves I needed to – could have made a little bit more – but defense overall did pretty well,” Jackson Hagy said.

Emplit earned player of the game for his efforts but was quick to point out lacrosse is a team sport.

“To go out there and win, we have to play as a team,” Emplit said. “There's no hero ball, there's no individual play, because if we don't play as a team, and if we didn't play as a team tonight, we wouldn't have won that game.”