Sammamish Lacrosse Falls to Woodinville Saturday at State Finals

SEATTLE – Led by senior JD Chapman’s four goals and a smothering defense, Woodinville outlasted Sammamish 10 – 7 to secure a perfect season and capture their first Washington state Division II lacrosse championship, Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.

The win gave the upstart Woodinville program and second-year coach Gavin Molitor their first state title in just their second year of play.

“There was no single hero in this game. This championship was won a s a complete team,” said Molitor, who built the Falcons’ squad around a dozen Woodinville players who had played with him at the Division II Northshore program two years ago.

“There is a part of this win that goes back two years. We wanted to build in our commitment of winning in this community,” said Molitor. “It’s a victory not just for this team but for the 170 kids in our youth program, our parents and the Woodinville community. It feels unreal.”

Woodinville used a combination of offensive scoring and relentless defense that both gave the Falcons the early lead and held Sammamish senior attackman Tyvan Schmidt to just one goal.

Chapman, who anchors the offensive line on the Falcon’s football squad as a center, was the driving force on offense for the Falcons.

We really came together as a team,” said Chapman, who led the Falcons in regular season scoring with 41 goals and 32 assists. “Our defensive play was solid all year. They all produced for us. Today, they made the difference.”

Chapman opened scoring at 9:20 of the first, connecting on the lead score of two Falcon goals in the quarter, giving the Falcons a 2 -1 lead going into the second quarter. In the second, Sammamish’s Schmidt tied the game at 10:19 before Colter Clinch and Chapman again put Woodinville up by 2 goals 4-2. Followed by a Brian Headland goal to again bring the game to within one for Sammamish, Chapman scored his third goal of the night to give the Falcons a 5 – 3 lead. Following a Woodinville timeout, Sammamish’s Neil Hones scored his first of the night to again narrow the lead to 5-4 at halftime.

In the third, Chapman broke nearly a six-minute scoring drought with a shot past Sammamish’s goaltender Morgan White at 5:58. Just over a minute later, William Prostka added the Falcon’s seventh goal. Sammamish would add two more including a Tyler Wright score with 32 seconds remaining in the quarter to narrow the lead to 8 -6 going into the final quarter. But it the final quarter Woodinville added two more to take a 10 – 6 lead before Sammamish’s Neil Hones, who had 9 shots on the night, connected for his third goal with just 23 seconds remaining on a man-up opportunity to close out the game.

“They played great ‘D’,” said Sammamish’s Schmidt, who connected on only his single goal despite getting off 7 attempts. “Maybe they wanted it more. “Overall they are a great team. They earned it.”

For Woodinville, Chapman had 2 assists and a ground ball while Clinch and Daniel McKee each netted 2 goals. Dalton Combs led the Falcons on defense with 14 ground balls. For Sammamish, Neil Hones netted 3 goals, Matt Young had a goal and 8 ground balls and Schmidt finished with a goal and 3 ground balls.

Woodinville finished the season at 18-0-0, while Sammamish, dropping just their second game of the year, finished at 19-2-0.

Box Score 1 2 3 4 -- F
Woodinville 2 3 3 2 -- 10
Sammamish 1 3 2 1 -- 7

SCORING: Woodinville 10, Sammamish 7 - Woodinville wins Division II state championship (JD Chapman, W, 4 goals, 2 assists, 1 ground balls; Colter Clinch, W, 2 goals, 1 assists, 1 ground ball; Daniel McKee, W, 2 goals, 2 ground balls; Clemens Mitchell, W, 1 goal, 3 ground balls; Evan Schnitzius, W, 1 goal, 2 ground balls; Trevor Brown, W, 5 ground balls; Cameron Schmidt, W, 4 ground balls; Dalton Combs, W, 14 ground balls; Neil Hones, S, 3 goals, 4 ground balls; Matt Young, S, 1 goal, 8 ground balls; Brian Headland, S, 1 goal, 2 ground balls; Tyler Wright, S, 1 goal, 1 ground ball; Tyvan Schmidt, S, 1 goal, 3 ground balls; Sam Chapman, S, 7 ground balls; Jake DeWulf, S, 4 ground balls; Morgan White, S, 6 saves)

-- Information from US Lacrosse, Washington Chapter