Published: May 11, 2008 02:19 am      

West boys lacrosse falls; girls move on

MORGANTOWN — Despite being down, a two-goal deficit to be exact, Mike DeVault thought his West Fairmont boys’ lacrosse team played perhaps its best half all season.

“We felt good,” DeVault, the Polar Bears’ coach, said. “We shut their offense down. We kept the ball out of their end. Our defensive effort was tremendous.

“But we just ran out of gas.”

And host University took advantage. The second-seeded Hawks turned that 3-1 halftime cushion into an 11-1 victory over No. 3 West Saturday afternoon in the West Virginia state lacrosse semifinals.

Numbers-wise at least, the deck was stacked against the Polar Bears from the start.

University had the luxury, much like a hockey team, of multiple lines. West, meanwhile, was forced to rely on a significantly smaller pool of experienced players before clearing its bench late in the contest.

“We’re not a real deep team,” DeVault said. “In the second half, we held the ball and were just a step slower out there. That’s when (University) pounced and started getting a lot of shots. They have a pretty high-powered club.”

Louie Romano had the Polar Bears’ lone goal. David Bonazza assisted on the first-half score.

Tyler Ross added 14 saves in goal for West, which wrapped its season with a 12-7 record, the first winning season in the program’s four-year history.

“There are a lot of underclassmen coming back and there’s a lot of kids ready to try the sport,” DeVault said. “Lacrosse is catching on in West Virginia and at Fairmont Senior. All in all, it was a great season. We’re building a nice program here.”

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Girls Lacrosse

West Fairmont 15, Buckhannon-Upshur 7

FAIRMONT — West Fairmont’s girls’ lacrosse team advanced to the first-ever West Virginia state title game with a convincing semifinal victory Friday night.

The top-seeded Polar Bears (9-7-1) will play the winner of Monday’s University-Morgantown contest at noon next Saturday at East-West Stadium.

Morgan Cain paced West, which led 9-5 at halftime, with six goals.

Hannah Nagowski added three goals. Michelle Wilson and Mackenzie Murdock each scored twice. Jenna Garcia and first-year player Allison Clayton chipped in single goals for the Polar Bears.

Kacci Skinner tallied seven saves and Gabby Jenab had four in the victory.