HERMISTON, Ore.-Hermiston High School’s club Lacrosse Team enters the last week of the regular season atop the 3A Central Division standings of the Washington High School Boy’s Lacrosse Association (WHSBLA).
“We’ve got a really good offense and a solid defense,” said Head Coach Jacob Arnold, who is now in his tenth season leading the Bulldogs.
As they finish up the regular season and prepare for the playoffs Hermiston’s success comes as no surprise to those associated with the team, who have experienced firsthand the rise of the Bulldog Lacrosse program.
“It’s a really tight group that’s been playing together for a long time, there’s a lot of camaraderie on this team and everybody bought in,” said Coach Arnold. “The players are there for each other, they show up every day and hold each other accountable, whether at practice or in games.”
Coach Arnold is quick to share the credit for Hermiston’s Lacrosse program with his players and assistant coaches.
Hermiston’s assistant coaches include Lucas Bradshaw, who works with the offense, Scott Purswell who runs the defense, and Dustin Rysdam who coaches the Junior Varsity team and helps with the offense for Hermiston.
Building a program
Hermiston’s Lacrosse program has been built up over the past 10-12 years thanks to a successful youth program.
“It’s really grown,” said Jackson Bradshaw, a Senior Defender for the Bulldogs. “Starting with the youth program and thanks to our coaching staff, the Hermiston Lacrosse program has earned respect.”
Starting in early elementary school, Hermiston’s youth lacrosse program gives kids the chance to learn the game and develop their skills through middle school, which ultimately translates to the high school game, according to Coach Arnold.
“We’re pretty balanced age-wise this season with our seniors down through the freshmen,” said Coach Arnold of his roster that includes eight seniors, four juniors, nine sophomores and eight freshmen.
A winning tradition
Hermiston went undefeated last year and has only one loss on its record this season, a 6-5 heartbreaker against the Richland Bombers on April 24.
“We should not have lost that game,” said Kellen Young, a Senior Attack for the Bulldogs. “I think we’re going to go quite far in the playoffs.”
That one-point loss is as close as any team’s gotten to Hermiston this season, with the Bulldogs’ prolific offense winning most games by double digits, including scoring a school record 25 in a victory over Southridge on April 22.
A large part of high school sports is the element of fun and togetherness, and the Low-Down-Dirty-Dog Award is a recent tradition started by Coach Purswell to reward players.
“We started that last season to recognize a player who does the little things that often go unnoticed from start to finish that make a difference in a game,” said Coach Arnold.
A championship belt-style award, the Low-Down-Dirty-Dog is given to a player who shows extra effort, or who hustles and does the little things right in a game to help the team. Not necessarily for offense or defense, the award is something extra, a bit of fun to encourage players to compete hard, the right way.
Senior leadership
“It started when they were freshman, they’ve carried that leadership with them every year and brought the underclassmen along in what has become part of the Hermiston Lacrosse tradition,” said Coach Arnold of his senior players.
While a thriving youth program means Hermiston can reload year-after-year, the current group of seniors has been instrumental to the Bulldogs’ success, including a 14-4 victory over East Valley on Hermiston’s Senior Night on April 19.
“We’ve got good chemistry, we’ve all been playing together so long,” said Blake Palzinski, who plays Midfielder and Faceoff for the Bulldogs. “It’s fun, it’s just playing with a group of your friends.”
Fun, chemistry, camaraderie and love are words used a lot by players and coaches involved in the Hermiston Lacrosse program-for both the team and the game, and it shows on the field.
“Lacrosse has been great,” said Young, who plans to play lacrosse next year at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. “It gave me the opportunity to leave a sport I didn’t like (baseball) for one that I love.”
For Coach Arnold, the knowledge and enthusiasm of this Senior Class has been instrumental to the Bulldogs’ success this season.
According to their coach, goalie Kaden Hasty is the vocal leader of the team, directs the Bulldogs on the field and is lights-out in front of the net, while Palzinski is the best faceoff in the conference.
The Hermiston offense runs through Young, while Bradshaw is a constant playmaker and scoring threat, and Joseph Filippi controls the middle of the field and sets the pace for the Bulldogs.
Pehyton Burgess and Nate Purswell bring physicality to the game as lockdown defenders, while Maddie Wicks, who will play lacrosse at Eastern Oregon University next season, always plays hard and keeps the guys in line.
“I love lacrosse, and I love this team,” said Bradshaw. “I just wish there were more games.”
The playoffs
Hermiston has two regular season games left, against Kamiakin and Richland, before the playoffs start, with the Bulldogs set to host a first-round playoff game on May 10.
If the Bulldogs keep winning, they will head to Western Washington to play a Seattle-area school in the second round of the playoffs.
Good Luck Bulldogs. Make all of us alumni proud!