The Overlake School boys’ lacrosse team capped off a season for the ages with a 17-11 victory over undefeated Eastside Catholic last Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Seattle to win its first Division II Lacrosse Championship.
The Owls finished the season with a 15-2 record and put an end to their first-round playoff woes.
Overlake used an aggressive transitional offense, firing 42 shots at freshman goalkeeper O’Neil Hughes to throw the Crusaders off their game.
“This is an amazing win,” said senior George Dolack, who scored three goals for the Owls. “After three years of losing in the first round of the playoffs we finally made it.
“The Redmond game was our biggest weapon,” said Dolack, referring to Overlake’s 12–7 loss to the Owls’ cross-town rival on March 25. “We had been playing well early in the year. That loss felt horrible. It motivated us.”
Overlake came out of the gates hard with Sky Tweedie-Yates beating Hughes just 51 seconds into the game and again nine seconds later give the Owls an early 2–0 lead.
Following a David Carlton goal at the 10:35 mark that put the Crusaders on the board, Overlake’s Greg Safadago answered with his only goal of the game to send the Owls on a 4–1 run and close the first quarter with a 6–2.
In the second quarter, with Overlake having extended their lead to 8–3, the Crusaders came marching back on a short-handed goal by Carlton, as the Crusaders scored four of the final five goals in the half close the gap to 9–7.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Overlake goaltender Chap Grubb, who recorded a game-high 12 saves. “We had a run in the beginning and they hit us back,” “After (Eastside Catholic’s) run, we came back and stopped them.”
In the fourth, the teams traded goals, but the Crusaders three nets weren’t enough as the Owls scored four of their own to cruise to the win.
“Our defense,” answered Overlake head coach Henry Valentine when asked what part of the Owls’ game stepped up the most. “When a team was averaging the amount of goals they were in their undefeated season … we’re excited that we held them to 11 goals. Offensively our guys settled in and played as a team. We played great Overlake lacrosse.”
Overlake’s Devon Schmidt led the team on offense, scoring six goals and two assists while collecting 12 ground balls. Tweedie-Yates and his brother, Scout, combined for six goals and six assists.
Valentine, a ninth-year coach at Overlake, admitted that his squad this season was more close-knit and receptive than any group he’s coached in his career.
“This team more than another other team was eager to drink in everything we’ve thrown at them as coaches,” Valentine said. “The team trusted each other, the staff, and the team trusted our philosophies.”
With the landmark victory, the Overlake community and the lacrosse program has been re-energized with a sense of pride.
“It’s a little overwhelming, I’ve even gotten e-mails from alumni that are living overseas,” said Valentine on the community response to the win. “For a school our size there’s a lot of passion. It’s great for our student body, it’s great for the community. You really feel like a part of the school.”
