Davis High midfielder Liam Neville drove down the alley on the right side of the goal, switched his stick from his right side to his left and ripped a one-hopper past the helpless Bella Vista goalkeeper.

In his first home game since recovering from a fractured finger, Neville spearheaded the unstoppable Blue Devil boys lacrosse offense, as the locals trounced the visiting Broncos, 19-5.

DHS head coach Nick Juri explained that the return of Neville, a senior captain who will play at Vassar College next fall, is huge as the Devils (5-5) continue Sacramento Valley League play.

“He’s a team leader, even when he was out he was leading from the sideline,” Juri said of the standout midfielder. “It’s tough to do when you’ve got an injury. I have a ton of respect for him because he’s such a mature player and he figured it out: I have to help my team however I can. Now it seems like he’s almost back to form.”

With Neville suited up, the Davis offense imposed itself through a flurry of goals in the opening minutes of the game. Face-off specialist Jake Hammond started things off by winning the opening draw and racing down the field to rip a shot past the BVHS goalie.

Just two minutes in, it was Neville who made his presence known, as he drove and scored left-handed to make it 2-0.

Thirty seconds later, sophomore Sean Gellen tallied with a laser beam of a shot after juking a defender nearly out of his shoes. After the Broncos got one back, Blue Devils Justin Reno and Neville responded with goals that made it 5-1.

Bella Vista made a run with three unanswered goals, cutting the deficit to 5-4, but the DHS defense locked in from there, holding the visitors scoreless until the fourth quarter.

“They started picking a guy on the crease and sending cutters and we had to wake up on defense,” Juri said. “Once we recognized it, we shut it down. That’s another thing, we made the correct adjustments (Tuesday), something that we weren’t able to do at the beginning of the season. Now that we’re making adjustments, that’s a huge stepping stone for a young team.”

Up 6-4 entering the second period, the Devils continued to fire on all cylinders as two goals from Gellen, and one each from Rowan Hart and Casey Aikawa, made it 10-4 by intermission

Four Davis players — Neville, Gellen, Hammond and Hart — had hat tricks on Tuesday with seven Blue Devils finding the net at least once. In putting up those numbers, DHS’ ball movement was impeccable, as teammates constantly made the extra pass to get a great shot instead of a good shot.

“They’re attacking and playing with more intent,” Juri explained. “They’re going to cage, they’re moving the ball faster, they’re taking shots and they’re good shots. A lot of the shots were spot on and were right where they were supposed to be, really making the most of our opportunities. That’s what we need to do every single game.”

Neville, Gellen and Hart showed this offensive potency in the third quarter, when they strung three passes together in rapid succession. Hart was the benefactor of this ball movement as he ripped a shot past the goalkeeper to make it 11-4.

From there, it was all Blue Devils as Josh Rix, Hart, Gellen, Hammond and Neville recorded tallies to close out the Davis scoring.

The Devils now have a week off until next Tuesday’s road game at Lincoln of Stockton. Then Friday, April 24, Granite Bay is at Brown Stadium for Break the Record Night.

— Reach Thomas Oide at [email protected]

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