Socastee boys lacrosse team rolls to win over Myrtle Beach

Socastee’s boys lacrosse team wanted to get up as many shots as possible Thursday night.

The Braves didn’t have much trouble accomplishing that goal.

Socastee combined for 34 shots against Myrtle Beach, and Stephen Sperbeck and Zach Shear each had hat tricks to lead the Braves to a 13-3 win over the Seahawks.

“Just the more we shoot, the more likely it is to go in,” Socastee coach Matt Fox said. “We’ve struggled the last few games as far as numbers and this was a good opportunity for us.”

Heading into Thursday, Socastee was 0-3 and looking for some momentum. The Braves – who were without defenseman Jacob Perritt as he sat out with a knee injury – put it on the Seahawks quickly, racing out to a 6-1 halftime advantage.

“It was much needed, coming in 0-3 and having some difficulties. We needed a good, team win and this was good. We put 13 goals up and it was good to get some positive momentum going forward,” said Fox, whose team had 34 groundballs. “We put our best guys out there, number one. And we just told them to, honestly, shoot and put it on the cage and move the ball quickly. If we get the guys like Shear and Sperbeck shooting, and shooting quickly and early they’re good enough that it’s going to be going in the cage.”

Myrtle Beach fought back, scoring twice in the second half but it wasn’t enough. The Seahawks were led by Noah Thomas’ two goals, and Hadou Slimani added one goal for Myrtle Beach (0-3).

Despite the loss, Seahawks coach Jim O’Neill has been impressed with his young team’s advancement.

“It’s our second season and the kids are getting better, but lacrosse is a different game to learn; it’s not easy. Not just catch and throw; there’s a lot of movement and you have to go up and down the field a lot. But the kids are getting better and we’re showing a lot of improvement,” O’Neill said. “Each game, we look at it as a learning lesson and we’re taking it one game at a time. We know we’re getting better and better and in future, we know we’ll be contending very soon.”

Early on, the Braves took advantage of some mismatches against Myrtle Beach, but O’Neill saw it as a big measuring stick for how his team will do in the future.

“We just didn’t play on defense as well as we should have,” he said. “We were just letting them run through our picks and our guys playing defense. And we let a couple of guys loose on the crease; our defensemen were coming out too far. But like I said, this is just a learning experience and only our second season. We’ll get it down and get better at more aspects of the game, but we’ve come a long way.”

Fox also noticed how far the second-year Seahawks have come and thinks they have a bright future.

“They’re good. They’re a second year program so they’re young and are learning a lot of skills. Down the road, they’re going to be pretty good,” Fox said. “Like us, they have speed, which always helps and – for a young team – that’s what you want. And they weren’t intimidated by us, so that’s good for their program.”

Myrtle Beach will spend the next three weeks on the road as the Seahawks are set for five straight away games, starting at powerhouse Bishop England.

“We’ll have our hands full,” O’Neill said. “But it’ll be another big learning experience for us. But our guys never give up; we’re always working hard so I’m very proud of that.”

Meanwhile, Fox doesn’t believe his team is close to peaking yet and said the Braves’ quickness is their strong point and they want to build on that.

“That’s the best part. We have a lot of opportunity to grow,” he said. “We’re pretty young; we only have four seniors and they’re all on defense. We played really well defensively, even with one of our starters sitting. That’s our leadership and we have a lot of speed; it’s great. Much like basketball, speed kills. Go, go, go, go, go. So we’re fast breaking on people, we’re looking to shoot quickly and get as many shots as possible. Hopefully more go in than don’t.”

The Braves travel to take on A.C. Flora at 2 p.m. Saturday and will look to keep the ball rolling.

“We’re excited,” Fox said. “We’re looking forward to that one.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Socastee boys lacrosse team rolls to win over Myrtle Beach."