Chelsea Lacrosse Stomps Huron River Rats 19-2

Chelsea’s Nick Childress (no. 26) scores for his Bulldogs

Temperatures were brisk on Friday night at Jerry Niehaus football field in Chelsea as the Bulldog lacrosse team looked to snap a 4 game losing streak against the Ann Arbor River Rats. In the 4 game losing streak, Chelsea was up against some state-ranked competition and it was a rough stretch of their schedule and goals were hard to come by.

Looking to get back on track, it looked a bit grim in the beginning as Huron jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. But Chelsea Head Coach Joe Koengeter called his boys over and gave them a pep talk and whatever he said worked because the Bulldogs caught fire quick as Doug Zarinnia got the Bulldogs on the board. Two quick goals by Cam Breining And Mikal Nelson put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

The Bulldogs opened it up and took a big 10-2 lead at the half. In the second half, it was more of the same as Senior netminder Josh Ciaccio stopped everything that was thrown his way with the help of his stingy defense. In the 4th quarter, a midi stayed back as Ciaccio took the ball all the way down the field and was able to get a shot off on goal, just slightly missing the net.

“It was the first time I’ve ever been able to do that,” said a thrilled Ciaccio. “It was exciting, I really wanted to get a goal. But I’m happy with the big win for the team and I hope I get to do that again someday.”

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by senior Nate Bero with a hat trick. Breining, Nelson, and Aidan Boote each chipped in 2 goals apiece. The Bulldogs will look for another goal fest in their favor Monday night as they play host to the Lincoln.

The Chelsea Fans were out in full force to support their team

Nick Whitesall gets a shot and goal for the Bulldogs

Cam Breining celebrates his 27th goal of the season

Goalkeeper Josh Coaccio takes it downfield for a shot on goal

Cam Breining, shot, score

Mikal Nelson gets air and a goal

Aidan Boote gets a shot and a goal

Chelsea Dominates On The Mats

The Chelsea wrestling team played host to Lincoln and Ann Arbor Huron High school tonight. After honoring the team seniors of the class of 2017, the grapplers squared off. Senior Trever McTaggart got things started against Lincoln in a good way as he defeated his opponent in a 171-pound category points battle. Chelsea didn’t let up from there as James Mida put his opponent on the mat for a pin before he knew what hit him, in 33 seconds! Senior Jake Jacobusse pinned his railsplitter opponent in 1 minute 43 seconds as Chelsea rolled to a huge 55-11 victory.

In the second match of the night, the Bulldogs squared off against a shortened Ann Arbor Huron team cruising to a 66-9 victory. Jacobusse, who was tied for the team lead in pins coming into the match, fell behind by 1 as his teammate Josh Dosey had two pins on the night.

The Bulldogs travel to Holt Saturday at 9 a.m. for the Holt Invitational.

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Chelsea Edged By Ann Arbor Huron

Junior Guard Cam Copper drives inside for 2

Chelsea hosted the Ann Arbor Huron River Rats in a big SEC conference showdown on Friday night. Both teams came in unbeaten in conference play and were  looking to gain an edge. Huron came in at 8-2 and on a three-game winning streak while Chelsea came in at 8-1. And both teams were ready to play.

Chelsea took off fast using their strength to work down low and Senior Forward Trevor Kingsley got the scoring started with 2 hard fought shots underneath to give the Bulldogs the edge. Junior Guard Cam Cooper hijacked the ball from a River Rat and drove the length of the court for a big bucket and immediately the Bulldogs were up 8-0. Huron came back strong though on an 11-0 run. Then Cooper stole the ball again and was fouled with only .1 seconds on the shot and sank both free throws to put Chelsea up 12-11 at the end of the first.

Huron put the pressure on the Bulldogs and points were hard to come by in the second period for both teams and with a minute left Junior Ryan Mitchell stole the ball & drove the court to put Chelsea up 22-21. Huron drove up the court and was trying to hold the ball for the last shot but with 23 seconds left in the half, Kingsley jumped and used his strength to aggressively block a Huron shot and let the River Rats know they were in for a fight.

Huron came out strong in the third but the Bulldogs did too. Although Huron had the height advantage, Chelsea had the strength advantage with Kingsley and Senior Collin Steinhauer crashing the boards on both sides of the court. Neither team led by more than 2 points at any point in the game at this point and Chelsea Head Coach Josh Tropea did a masterful job answering Huron’s substitutions with his own. With 57 seconds left in the 3rd and Chelsea trailing a technical foul was called on River Rat Avery Lewis. Cooper took the free throws and then right before the buzzer in the period it was Senior Guard Ethan French slipping inside and putting the Bulldogs up off a great reverse layup.

Both teams traded baskets in the third and Chelsea was keeping in the game until Huron’s Darian Root hit a big three-pointer to put Huron up by 5, the biggest lead for either team of the night. From that point on the River Rats outscored Chelsea in the closing minutes, 5-0, en route to a hard-fought victory. Rowley finished with a game-high 11 points, followed by Alec Anderson with nine and Jack Smith with eight.

For Chelsea (9-2), Kingsley and Steinhauer each led the Bulldogs with eight points. Alex Vasquez had 6 points and several big blocks for the Bulldogs, Cooper finished with 5 points.

With four-straight wins under its belt, Huron (10-2) will prepare for a pair of home games next week against Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Lincoln. Meanwhile, Chelsea (9-2) will try to get back on the winning side as they host Adrian Lenawee Christian on Tuesday before hitting the road to face Ann Arbor Skyline on Friday.

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