Knowing that the same two teams will play on the same field on Tuesday in the first round of the Bay Shore Athletic League playoffs, Davis High boys lacrosse coach Nick Juri wasn’t going to make too much about Friday’s, 6-5, loss at Piedmont.

If anything, the Blue Devil coach was encouraged by his team’s near-comeback in the second half as it showed DHS exactly what it will need to do to defeat the Highlanders.

“After coming back in the second half, I think we all realized that it’s going to take a full 48 minutes to beat these guys,” Juri said. “I’m very confident that we can go back there on Tuesday and win. It would have been nice to get the win (Friday), but Tuesday will be the important one.”

Though Devil sophomore Mikie Schlosser scored the first goal of the game, Piedmont responded quickly, then tacked on three more tallies to take a 4-1 halftime lead in the final regular season contest for both squads.

Despite the goal discrepancy, both teams played an intense and aggressive brand of lacrosse in the first half, leading to a physical and exciting first two periods.

The Davis defense then stepped up its play in the third quarter, maintaining ball control and picking up several takeaways and interceptions to hold Piedmont without a goal. Rudy Buhlman led the Blue Devils with four takeaways on the day, Austin Barden, Carson Stone and Willie Hawkins contributed two each and Tim McIntyre posted one.

Another key play came from Dillard Brown, who grabbed an interception before speeding through the Highlander defense and beating the goalie to make it 4-2. Later, Schlosser fought through a double team and got his second goal on a left-handed bullet to bring DHS to within one at the end of the period.

Hawkins then began the fourth quarter by snagging the ball at the 50, running downfield and finding Kevin Willefert for the game-tying goal. Hawkins later made it four straight Devil goals when he took a pass from Mark Bruemmer in heavy traffic and gave Davis a 5-4 lead.

But Piedmont finally responded, scoring two late goals to pull out the victory.

Face-off fiend Carson Stone was his old self for DHS, winning 11 of 13, and Will McPherson had seven saves to go with several groundballs.

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DHS’ Willie Hawkins, left, holds off a Piedmont defender during the Blue Devils’ 6-5 loss to the Highlanders on the road Friday. Hawkins’ hustle plays — which included a pair of takeways — helped Davis as it nearly came back to win. Courtesy photo

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