Boys Lax: Hembree the hero as Crusaders sneak by Cardinals in revenge game

This past Saturday, the Eastside Catholic Crusaders traveled down to Seattle to face off against the Seattle Academy Cardinals. Knotted up at 10-10 with two minutes to go, EC hearthrob Andrew Hembree grabbed the game-winning goal to make it 11-10 and earn his team the win on the Cardinals’ Senior Night (which might sound like deja vu, as the Cardinals beat the Crusaders by an overtime goal on EC’s Senior Night last season). Hembree’s heroics led critics and fans to wonder, “Is he Him…bree?” And to that, the answer is a resounding YES!

This was a nail-biter up until the last second of the game. Senior Andrew Hembree scored an absolute banger to give EC the lead with 2 minutes left in game. That win was for all the seniors from last year, especially star former player the Cam McColly. The was played at a frenetic pace, and the Crusader defense and FOGO had their hands full throughout the contest. Senior Robby Shogren had 5 ground balls and multiple forces turnovers. Brayden Boone, Jordi Giacobbe, and Porter Willsley all had great games and helped contribute to the overall result. FOGO Connor Swedish had 5 ground balls scoring over 50 percent on the face. But unfortunately for the Crusaders, Swedish fractured his wrist during the contest and is out for the season.

Catch the highlights (@ls.films7) here

The Crusader points came from all of these players, Daniel Chang had 4 goals and 2 assists. He was the top scorer for the Crusaders. Cade Skillman had a goal and 4 assists as he was moving the ball all game and kept finding clutch looks. Jacob Dahl had a goal and 2 assists, then the glorious Andrew Hembree had 2 goals, including the jaw-dropping game winner. AJ Beveridge had 2 goals as well, and Connor Swedish had one as well.

SAAS had some good players too, most notably Cole Bell had 7 points — 2 goals and an impressive 5 assists. Miles Stout had 3 goals and an assist, Will Cundiff had 2 goals and an assist, Bennet Rawlings had a goal, and Brooks Tappan had one as well. Tappan had a huge impact for SAAS; although only having one goal, he had 11 groundballs, and his clearing of the ball was excellent.

This was a great and fun game between these two tough teams as they look to determine playoff seedings. SAAS will kick off their playoff push at 7PM tonight against Bellarmine Prep, while EC will faceoff against Archbishop Murphy an hour later at 8PM.