With the NCAA Final Four this upcoming weekend, Meridian’s boys’ lacrosse team was in the March Madness spirit on Thursday night as they beat visiting Trinity of Meadow View 7-6, on about as close to a “buzzer beater” as you can get. Junior Dean Zike found the back of the net with two seconds remaining, scoring his fourth goal of the game to keep the Mustangs undefeated at 3-0.
It was a back-and-forth affair the whole way, with three lead changes and neither team ever holding a multiple goal lead. Trinity scored first before the Mustangs got tallies from Zike and Jay Humphreys to lead 2-1 after a frame, and then they went into the half tied at three apiece after Zike‘s second goal was sandwiched between two Trinity scores. Zike completed the hat trick late in the third, but then the visitors immediately answered before taking the lead early in the final frame. The Mustangs responded with two straight goals by Carter Williams to lead 6-5, before a Trinity tally with 90 seconds to go seemed like it had set the stage for overtime. But Zike‘s late game heroics were able to spare the extra minutes, prompting thunderous cheers from the home crowd with his last second score.
The boys will now have a few weeks off before facing their next competition, at home against Alexandria City on April 11th.
