Having retained the Jack Hutton Cup (the North Harbour Championship) last month, the Westlake Boys Lacrosse team won a place in the Auckland Lacrosse final after a scintillating semis win over Mount Roskill Grammar School. With final opponent Mount Albert Grammar School fielding a record number of 12 New Zealand Lacrosse squad players against Westlake’s single representative player, the team were to come up against formidable opposition in the last match of the season.
The final was played away at the St Peter’s College artificial turf on the last day of term 3 and the match saw Westlake try to adjust its play to contain their main players, but by the end of the first quarter the team were 2-5 down. The coaches readjusted the game strategy and Westlake managed to hang on to a 1-0 lead in the second quarter followed by a 2–1 win in the third quarter taking the score to 5-6. However by the final quarter, Westlake were exhausted and the onslaught of 13 personal fouls for rough play on the young Westlake team had taken its toll. MAGS scored 3 more goals in the final quarter taking the victory 5-9.
Westlake competed extremely well in a hard fought match and never gave up. Rowan Angelo scored 4 of the team’s 5 goals and goalkeeper Dylan Penlington was named man of the match by keeping Westlake in contention throughout the match. It was a tough game to end another successful year. Congratulations to all involved and special thanks go to Mrs Vikki Clarke and Westlaker coaches Jung Hyun Lee and Stefan Vidal.