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Sports

Early Exit: Birmingham Unified Lacrosse Falls 16-3 to West Ottawa in Regionals

Lack of execution and scoring ends Birmingham's season Thursday night.

BIRMINGHAM – The Birmingham Unified varsity lacrosse team didn’t want to end its season like that, especially on its home field.

Birmingham (8-11) was knocked out of the playoffs Thursday night in a 16-3 loss to Holland West Ottawa in the first round of regionals.

“You definitely don’t want to lose a home game in the playoffs,” Birmingham Unified coach Jake Martin said. “I hope they remember how this feels and use it for motivation in the offseason.”

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It was a 40-minute scoring drought that ultimately doomed Birmingham’s chances. Birmingham co-captain J.D. Hess scored the second of his two goals with 3:41 left in the first quarter, but the team didn’t score again until there was 30 seconds left in the game.

West Ottawa extended its 3-2 lead to 8-2 by halftime, with Alexander Smith and Spencer Olson scoring two goals in the second quarter each. Olson also had two assists. 

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Birmingham’s defense gave West Ottawa a lot of space near the net to move around and that lack of pressure helped West Ottawa create easy shots throughout the game.

“We needed to be more physical,” Martin said. “They have some big boys on that team and athletes. You got to play those kind of guys physical, you can’t try to stop them with your stick.”

Two key defenders for Birmingham, Cameron Smyk and Jake Martin, missed the game with injuries and their absence made a difference. Injuries have plagued Birmingham all season and are a big reason why the team won’t be going to the Division 1 semifinals.

“We did graduate a very talented class last year. We had an All-American graduate and two defenders that went to Army,” Martin said. “Lot of leadership and talent, but this year we had a promising group. I really think injuries at mid-season set us back so far.”

Thursday injuries didn’t hurt Birmingham as much on offense — its lack of execution did. West Ottawa only outshot Birmingham by eight shots (31-23) in the game, but ended outscoring them by 13.

“Their goalie played very well, but we certainly had a plenty of opportunities,” Martin said. “We hit some pipes, miss some open one-on-ones and I really think he got in our heads a little bit.”

Birmingham had four shots in the second quarter that hit the crossbar or sidebar and bounce out. It was that kind of day for the home team.

West Ottawa's Smith ended up putting the game out of reach, scoring three of his team’s first four goals in the second half. Smith and Olson each finished the game with five goals apiece

Martin said he hopes the lopsided loss helps fuel his kids in the offseason. Two-thirds of the roster will be back next season for Birmingham Unified and expectations will be high for the group.

“That’s where we got to get better, the offseason,” Martin said. “We do a ton of work in the regular season while we’re at practice, but where you really improve individually is during the fall and winter.”

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