Scots win sixth straight lacrosse title

Published April 22nd, 2008

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Saturday turned out to be a special day for Saint Andrew’s School boys lacrosse coach Jeff Goldberg.

Not only did his Scots win the state title – their sixth straight in a 16-6 win over Lake Brantley – but Goldberg’s wife Jennifer gave birth to their second child, Smith Jaxon in the early morning hours after they returned from Orlando.

“Without a doubt,” Goldberg said.

“Obviously the baby takes precendence, but it was a great day.”

Smith Jaxon wasn’t due until next month, but maybe it’s a sign that he wanted to be born in the hours after the Scots’ biggest triumph in Goldberg’s 15 years there.

“Hopefully Smith will grow up to be a lacrosse player, and we can tell him about the wonderful night when he was born,” Goldberg said.

Smith Jaxon joins 6-year-old brother Kade in the family.

It was fitting that such a special moment occurred after the biggest triumph of a team Goldberg called the best in school history.

“It never gets old,” Goldberg said. “Every team has a different identity.

When you only have one loss as a team, that’s special … this is by far the most joyous one.”

If the title match was supposed to be a coronation, Lake Brantley played as if they didn’t know it.

The score was tied 5-5 with three minutes left in the first half before the Scots started to pull away.

Lee Coppersmith scored two goals and Robert Nogueras and Michael Lipin added one apiece to give the Scots a 9-5 halftime lead.

Nogueras notched three more goals to start the third period, with Peter Ferini adding another to make it 13-5 going into the fourth.

Not only did the Scots compile the best record in school history at 20-1, but they managed to become the first team to win a state-sanctioned title.

“There was so much pressure because it was the first one,” Goldberg said.

“The monkey was on our backs. They didn’t want to be the first team to lose in six years.”

The scary thing for Saint Andrew’s opponents is the Scots only lose five impact players, as opposed to the 10 they lost from last year’s state titleist.

And true to his nature, Goldberg is already thinking about next season.

“We won’t be as athletic on the defense,” he said. “We’re going to be very green. We get guys ready to fill shoes.”

After their victory, the Scots sent word to the unit in Iraq they’ve been sponsoring, the Bravo Troop Bonecrushers.