William Shakespeare’s striking quote from King Henry the Fourth has certainly applied to the defending champion Jesuit Rangers Lacrosse team over their most recent stretch. In their quest for the most elusive feat in Texas High school Lacrosse, the famed three-peat, the Rangers have faced the aptest of competition.
“We’ve faced some of the best players in Texas and it will serve us well, especially in the long run.” – Cooper Tilden ’24
However, in the Rangers’ rise to the upper echelon of the lacrosse community, a target has in a sense been placed on their back. North Texas teams especially realize that winning a state title means beating Dallas Jesuit. This means opposing teams will bring an intense fervor when they face the team hailing from 12345 Inwood Road, a challenge that the Rangers have especially encountered in the most recent weeks.
Austin Westlake
After defeating the Memorial Mustangs the week before, the Rangers kicked off a four-game stretch, traveling down south to face off against the undefeated Westlake Chaparrals. An earlier loss to Westlake in the Pre-season Jesuit Invitational meant this early March trip would have a sense of revenge for Jesuit.
The battle of the undefeated teams began with an early offensive barrage from the Chaparrals taking an early 2-1 lead followed by a Greyson Kissock ’24 goal. The second quarter represented most of the scoring as the Chaps ended the half with a 5-2 lead.
The Ranger squad came out of the half strong outscoring Westlake 2-1 in the third quarter. Star seniors Charlie Schmidt and Cameron Martin would score these two goals cutting the Chap lead to 2 goals before the final quarter. The stout Westlake defense would keep the Rangers from scoring and take home the win 8-4.
Cameron Martin ’23 led scorers with 2 followed by singular goals from Schmidt ’23 and Kissock ’24. Mercer Fernandes ’23 finished with 2 assists, while FOGO Cooper Tilden ’24 went 50% percent on face-offs.
St. Mark’s
“They brought tremendous energy to the game and you could tell they had been working in the off-season by their skill-level.” – Cooper Tilden ’24
Returning home from a tough loss, Jesuit looked to bounce back with a win against cross-Tollway St. Marks. However, the Lions are a veteran team with multiple division one commits. St. Marks, like Austin Westlake, is a team fighting for state title contention, which means that a win against the two-time defending champions would mean a lot for team confidence.
In a rematch from last season’s state semifinal game, the Lions came out with a very aggressive start notching 4 unanswered goals in the first quarter. Rangers Schmidt ’23 and Foley ’24 would reply with two goals while the Lions snuck another in before the half. The Lions took the lead during the intermission with a 5-2 lead.
Jesuit would not roll over against the deficit while they cut the Lion lead to two points following electric goals from underclassmen; Robertson, Foley, and Kissock. Heading into the fourth and final quarter the rubber match was 7-5 in favor of the Lions with the Ranger squad picking up momentum.
Both teams would light up the final 12 minutes with 7 goals from each side. Foley ’24 would reach a hat trick in this period while Schmidt ’23 and Ty Robertson would continue their scoring streaks with a goal a pair. These fourth-quarter goals failed to take a firm lead while St. Marks notched 4 goals in the final period taking home the win 11-8.
Total scoring stats would have Beckett Foley ’24 leading the team with 3 goals. Charlie Schmidt ’23 and Ty Robertson ’24 both knocked in two goals while Greyson Kissock ’24 closed things out with a singular goal.
“It was a tough loss but it will motivate us and we’ll see them again in the playoffs for another chance.” – Beckett Foley ’24
St. Ignatius
Following the St. Marks loss, the Rangers would head to California for their spring break trip. Kicking off this two-game road trip, the Rangers would face a top 10 ranked team in the country based on Inside Lacrosse rankings. The St. Ignatius Wildcats boast a stacked roster, full of division one talent.
I had the opportunity to speak with Junior Sam Emery on the matchup against the top ranked team in California and he mentioned how it was “a learning experience providing very valuable motivation for the team.” He also mentioned how the Wildcats were “extremely impressive on both sides of the ball.”
Beckett Foley ’24 opened up Ranger scoring in the 2nd quarter and he was followed by a Charlie Schmidt ’23 goal in the third quarter. Brodie Hobbs knocked in a goal to make it 3-10 in favor of the Wildcats in the 4th quarter. FOGO Cooper Tilden ’24 scored his second goal of the season followed by a Caden Bartusek ’26 goal.
A final score of 11-5 would end the Rangers first California matchup in favor of the St Ignatius Wildcats.
Sacred Heart
The Rangers fell into a three game slid following the St. Ignatius loss. However, their next matchup would continue the pattern of the Rangers facing extremely talented rosters. Sacred Heart’s team consisted of five high-level division one commits and a stacked midfielder group.
A first quarter barrage of four Jesuit goals gave them a 2 point lead early on. Cameron Martin ’23 lead this charge with a first quarter brace. However the Sacred Heart defense would step up significantly in the following quarter where they held the Rangers to a singular goal compared to their 6. Intermission would start with the score at 8-5 in favor of the Jesuit opponent.
Second-half goals from juniors Greyson Kissock and Beckett Foley would fail to surpass the vaunted SH roster leading to a Ranger loss in California. Final scoring tallies would have Cameron Martin ’23 leading the team with a hat-trick, Foley ’24 with two goals, Greyson Kissock ’24 with a singular as well as Charlie Schmidt ’23 with a goal of his own.
Looking Ahead
The Rangers will face another tough sequence of games in the likes of Coppell at Ranger stadium, followed by St. Ignatius in another home game. In the same week, Jesuit will face off against district rival ESD on March 31st, in a game which will greatly determine the hierarchy of Texas high-school lacrosse. The following day, California power house Torrey Pines will come into town for a rematch from last years Ranger victory.
