Boys lacrosse team beat up by Campolindo Cougars in DFAL match

Alhambra Bulldog attacker Marc Moore (at left) scored the Bulldogs’ only two goals in Alhambra’s 18-2 loss to the Campolindo High School Cougars on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. His two scores against the Cougars give him 21 total on the season, which is the team lead 12 games into the season. (MARK FIERNER / Martinez Tribune)
Alhambra Bulldog attacker Marc Moore (at left) scored the Bulldogs’ only two goals in Alhambra’s 18-2 loss to the Campolindo High School Cougars on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. His two scores against the Cougars give him 21 total on the season, which is the team lead 12 games into the season. (MARK FIERNER / Martinez Tribune)

By GERARDO RECINOS
Martinez Tribune

All throughout the league campaign, it gets tougher and tougher to pull positives from Alhambra’s lacrosse teams matches.

It isn’t as if the boys aren’t trying, when they leave the field nearly ever player is doused in sweat, and looks like they just went 10 rounds with a pro boxer. Bruises cover their bodies, and that’s considered normal.

But when you’re playing against kids who didn’t just start lacrosse in high school it can be tough. And it can be even tougher when you know you have a mountain to climb against one of the better teams in your league.

Campolindo’s 18-2 win over Alhambra was predictable, they battered Miramonte by a large margin two weeks earlier, and Miramonte had done the same to the Bulldogs in the same week.

The only two bright spots were goals by junior Marc Moore in each half of play.

But the truth is Al Boyce and his boys will need to weather the storm in games like this, where they aren’t expected to win, so that when they get to games like their recent loss against Dougherty Valley on March 25, they’re in a better position to win.

Campolido was never going to be a game the boys circled on the schedule and chomped at the bit to get going. They knew they’d be in for a battle, and it was clear early on, as Campo relentlessly scored, beating both a man to man defensive approach, as well as zonal marking.

The Cougars were simply faster, and better passers of the ball. Many times Alhambra defenders were caught watching the ball, and allowed their man to make a cut. And when Campo’s passers found the cutter, they almost always hit them in stride and give them a nice shooting lane.

The Cougars are somehow in third place as of their win against Alhambra, still behind Miramonte, who they recently beat down. But that will likely change after they take on Acalanes on April 12.

The Dons are one of the best team’s in Division II, but are suffering in terms of record due to losses against two programs in the top 150 in the nation in San Ramon Valley and Marin Catholic-Kentfield. They also lost 5-4 to perennial power De La Salle-Concord, who is ranked as the 45th best team in the nation according to MaxPreps.

The Dons come to Alhambra on April 1, in what will most likely be a one-sided match, but should the Dogs hold on they know they’ll have much more winnable games at the end of the month that could help them continue to add to their record win total.

About Gerardo Recinos

Gerardo Recinos is a journalist currently living in Concord, Calif. He is a recent graduate of San Francisco State University, with a degree in Journalism (History minor). Gerardo covers sports throughout Martinez and Pleasant Hill. It's his lifelong mission to get people in the U.S. to stop calling football "soccer," and to call American football "handegg."

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