Northwood’s varsity boys lacrosse team dominated Irvine High School 17-0 in their first home league game on March 3. Their victory marked a strong rebound performance after their previous loss to St. Margaret’s Episcopal School. 

The game kicked off with captain and midfielder junior Taylor Vu winning the first draw for Northwood. After missing the opening shot, Northwood quickly recovered and scored their first point less than a minute into the game with contributions from midfielder junior Jacob Jaafar. 

“At the first faceoff, I was confident I was going to perform well,” Vu said. “So I just stayed calm and wanted to maintain my performance throughout the game.”

Northwood continued their early momentum, racking up six goals by the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 10-0 before halftime.

In the second half, Irvine’s defense stepped up and held Northwood scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. Even with the increased pressure, captain and attackman senior Jeremiah Tak scored three of the team’s six goals in the second half of the third quarter, maintaining Northwood’s lead at 16-0.

Northwood closed out the game with a final goal from midfielder sophomore Noah Macias in the fourth quarter, securing their victory. Despite the opponent’s defensive adjustments, Northwood prevented Irvine from scoring throughout the entire game.

“We learned how to play better as a team,” Macias said. “[We were] able to really come together; it wasn’t some individual performance, it was a team win.”

The Timberwolves’ next game is on March 17 against University High School.