Boys Lacrosse: Thomas Reaches 500 Saves as Cedar Crest Pushes Hempfield in Close Loss

Thomas Reaches 500 Saves as Cedar Crest Pushes Hempfield in Close Loss

The Cedar Crest Lacrosse team was riding high following a thrilling 8-7 win over Ephrata on Friday. On Tuesday, the Falcons hit the road to face the mighty Hempfield Black Knights, a team they had lost to 15-5 earlier in the season. But no matter how intimidating the matchup looked on paper, Cedar Crest carried itself with confidence and turned it into a competitive clash, showing that the Falcons can hang with one of the area’s top programs.

A major reason for that was Paxton Thomas, who delivered one of the best performances of his career in goal. The senior, who is committed to continue his lacrosse career at Westminster College, was outstanding throughout the night and kept Cedar Crest in the fight for all 4 quarters. Thomas finished with 21 saves, including his 500th career save, reaching the milestone while turning away wave after wave of Hempfield pressure.

Offensively, Grant Reesor led the Falcons with 4 goals, while Nolan Brubaker added 1 goal and 1 assist. Jaxon Bucher also finished with 1 goal and 1 assist as Cedar Crest found timely offense against a strong Black Knights defense.

Also scoring for the Falcons was Cam Hansell, who added a goal in the loss. Even though Cedar Crest came up just short in a 9-7 final, the Falcons showed plenty of resolve against a team that had controlled the first meeting.

Cedar Crest (5-5) will host Conrad Weiser on Thursday in a game that will be broadcast as part of our LebCo Sports Live series.

Hempfield 9, Cedar Crest 7