GALESVILLE — Saturday’s schedule of high school boys lacrosse games on the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau football field was about more than what the outcomes to those games were.
There has been an active La Crosse Lightning club program for several years, but that was its debut as a varsity program as it hosted Sun Prairie East/West and Green Bay Notre Dame’s co-op in a triangular to open a groundbreaking season.
“In particular for the students who have been in the program for the last few years, to have Central take this (co-op) on and for it to be a sanctioned sport is huge,” La Crosse coach Josh VandeBerg said after the Lightning loss its first game to Sun Prairie 10-3. “They played club for six years, and these seniors getting the chance to compete as a sanctioned sport.
“That’s what we talk about all the time is growing the sport, and this is evidence that the game has grown.”
The local co-op includes players from Central, Logan, Aquinas, Onalaska, Luther, Holmen and West Salem.
Thirteen of the 27 players rostered are from Central. Onalaska and Luther have four each, West Salem and Aquinas two and Holmen and Logan one apiece.
A few hundred people braved a cold, windy and rainy day for three games of a new sport with which they may or may not have been familiar.
Sun Prairie and Notre Dame both son six games during last year’s first official season as a WIAA sport.
Sun Prairie took a 6-0 lead after one half — games consist of four 12-minute quarters — before La Crosse got a little more comfortable in its surroundings.
The Lightning scored three times in the second half, and Shawn McKane, an Onalaska senior, earned the right to say he scored the team’s first goal.
Charlie Seehafer, a Central senior, and Jax Hendrickson, a Luther junior, also scored for La Crosse as it played a much more competitive second half.
“The progress that we had after a rough first quarter was good,” VandeBerg said. “We played a better second quarter, and even third, and we won the fourth. That’s the kind of progress we want to see, and hopefully that carries on into the season.”
Sun Prairie controlled the action throughout the first half as the Lightning missed on a couple of good scoring opportunities with wide and high shots.
“I think we had some first-day jitters,” VandeBerg said. “We had some seasoned players who had some shots they are usually making or passes they are usually making came a little harder today.
“We were pretty jazzed up and excited to play.”
