Lampman scores 4 as Newton Falls tops LaBrae
Trending
LEAVITTSBURG -- A four-goal effort from senior Brady Lampman helped guide Newton Falls to a 6-2 victory over rival LaBrae on Wednesday.
It's cliche to say, but whenever these two programs go at it, records are irrelevant. Tigers coach Frank Tatarka knew his team was going to need its best effort if they wanted to get into the win column.
"Today I told them they needed to grow up and become men today because this team, no matter how bad or how good either team is, doesn't matter, it's always a good game," Tatarka said. "They're always spirited, we're always spirited. It's just one of those things that both teams -- it's not about disliking each other -- I think it's about the fierce competitiveness in each team, and I think that's what makes it a great rivalry."
Without fellow senior Leland Vargo in the lineup, Lampman put together his second four-goal performance of the year. Despite the success his striker has had this season however, Tatarka still thinks there's work to be done
"That's the second game this year. He has four goals, so he's doing well, but he could be a little better," Tatarka said. "He's still making some mistakes, but he's kind of our leader up there for goals. Him and Leland. Leland couldn't play today, but he'll be back next week. So with those two up top, it makes it kind of a dangerous twosome on the offensive end."
Junior Carter Drake and Hunter Persin also scored goals for Newton Falls.
The Tigers (5-3) have high hopes this season, and beating a rival is a good way to take another step toward that goal.
"We would really like to win the district," Tatarka said. "That's kind of our goal. We want to win the league first and foremost, but the district's been on our mind since last year. We made it to the district semis last year, and we feel like we can push it a little bit further."
Cameron Mills and Dawson Middleton each scored goals for LaBrae in the final two minutes of the first and second halves, respectively.
The Vikings (4-4) had several chances on goal that went just wide of connecting with the net, including multiple off the top crossbar. While frustrating, LaBrae coach Isaiah Carmichael knows that you can't rely on the ball bouncing your way, especially when they left other opportunities on the table.
"Those will get you, but we can't rely on them. We've got to put those ones away, but we had other opportunities, and we could have stopped some opportunities to help us out so we didn't have to put as many away," Carmichael said. "But it is what it is. We move forward, and we try to get better at it. It starts at practice for us. Just figuring out what we got to do to keep what we're working on at practice and translate it over. Because what we do in practice, it looks great, and then we come over here and it's just not fully translating. We've got to figure that out and then just go on from there."
Their next chance to put training into practice comes on Monday with a home game against Campbell Memorial. Newton Falls hosts Ravenna Southeast on Saturday at noon.