Bishop Moore lacrosse team chases district title, enjoys 11-2 start

“Why not us, boys?”

There was a buzz of excitement coming from the Bishop Moore Hornets during Monday’s practice – and it’s for good reason.

The Bishop Moore Catholic High School boy’s lacrosse team is off to their best start in years, pulling together an 11-2 record as of March 21 and hoping it leads to their ultimate goal: an elusive district championship.

The Hornets haven’t felt the sting of losing very much this season. Tuesday saw the team lose their first game in over a month in an all-out slugfest against heated rival Lake Highland Prep. Even that game included many stretches of play with Bishop Moore in the driver’s seat. They overcame a three goal deficit in the third quarter before they fell 11-10 to a last minute goal with 19.2 seconds left in the game.

The Hornets know they could have taken that win, but for now it’s motivation, Hornets lacrosse coach Reed Reynolds said.

“This one didn’t fall our way. … In the playoffs this matchup could come back,” he said.

Before Tuesday the boys in black and gold won eight straight, including a gutsy win over Winter Park High School last week.

Reynolds said the team’s success this year starts with its strong defensive core – a group of seniors and juniors that have built chemistry and confidence over the past few seasons.

“We just have a really experienced group of guys holding us down on defense,” defenseman and Bishop Moore senior Charlie Rask said.

“We’ve all really connected together. Chemistry helps a lot. Knowing the guy next to you has your back makes it a lot easier.”

That’s allowed the offense to go to work. The Hornets have scored more than 15 goals in seven of their 11 wins this season. Bishop Moore has also kept the ball out of their own net thanks to their talented goalie tandem, who’ve held the opposing team to five goals or less in seven games this season as well.

“Everything has to come together in harmony, and so far I think we’ve really all come together as one unit,” Rask said.

“We elevate each other up.”

Some say teams are only as good as their record. But for the Bishop Moore Hornets, 11-2 isn’t good enough. That’s because it’s not the end goal.

They want district, and they want it bad.

“We’re super excited, I’ve never had this feeling before,” midfielder and Bishop Moore senior Parker Blystone said. “We’ve had a great start. It will mean a lot more to finish it off even better than we started. I believe in the guys – I think we got what it takes.”

Bishop Moore has come close the past three years to winning districts, coming out as the runner up in each of those seasons.

Coach Reynolds knows he can’t predict the future, but he can see that Bishop Moore is in the best position yet to go all the way.

And that the buzz before districts isn’t getting any quieter.