Northwood savors its first program victory

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

It took Northwood's boys lacrosse team five years to get its first varsity lacrosse win.

So with the win at hand, the Gladiators enjoyed it to the maximum.

They stalled for the final minute of the game and started their celebration as the the final seconds ticked off.

Northwood had just made history, winning the first boys lacrosse game in Northwood’s five year existence with a 6-4 victory over Einstein Tuesday.

The players stormed the field and threw their helmets into the air. They found Coach David Edlow to give him the traditional ice bath as if they just won a championship.

For the Gladiators, getting a win was the first and foremost goal of the season.

“It was pretty crazy,” Edlow said. “Our kids were all pretty excited.”

Northwood lost 18 seniors from last year’s team and had just four returning players. The Gladiators came close to winning a couple times last year, losing to Wheaton in six overtimes and falling after leading Rockville late in another game.

The Gladiators lost 18 seniors from that year’s team, meaning just four players returned. They lost to Einstein, 8-1, earlier this year and it once again looked like they may go without a win.

But Northwood had some newcomers step up, in particular bulky defenseman and football player Lydell Baker and goalkeeper Alejandro Izales, who had never played between the pipes before this season and took over a couple weeks into the season.

Returning senior captain midfielder Soren Klaverkamp and sophomore defenseman Tristan Pomeroy have provided key leadership this season.

“This is a totally different team than the one we had in March,” Edlow said. “Everyone is really excited to see the program turning itself around. We finally accomplished our goal to get a win and we’re going to keep building from here and move forward.”