The 6th annual Jack Schantz Day

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The Woodlands Lacrosse program held the sixth annual Jack Schantz Day on Saturday at the Gullo Fields with all three of their junior high school teams as well as both high school teams in action.

The late Jack Schantz was responsible for founding the junior high school program in The Woodlands back in 1999 and his tireless efforts have given hundreds of young players the opportunity to play lacrosse. Jack was diagnosed with cancer in the early 2000's but continued to coach until his passing. The organization now has The Jack Schantz Award which is presented to a person who exhibits a strong sense of community and volunteerism. Jack was known for his inspirational one liners, not the least of which was... "The direction you wear your hat is the direction your life is going."

Also taking part in the festivities were the late Hannah Skomp's mother, Paula and sister Taylor. Before the Division 1 high school game against Austin Westlake, The Woodlands Lacrosse President Mike Lowery introduced Taylor and she offered some inspirational words for everyone in a wonderful tribute to Hannah.

The D2 game proved to be a see-saw battle as Westlake won a heartbreaker, 8-7 on a shot that got past The Woodlands goalie, Steele Petty with just four ticks of the clock remaining.

Jonathan Demary lit the lamp three times for The Woodlands D2 team in the losing effort. Jacob Moore added two goals while James McDowell pitched in a goal and two assists as Mitch Williams tallied one and one. Netminder, Petty had nine saves as his game is improving just in time for the tough South District grind.

D2 Coach Andris Dikmanis was upbeat after the loss...

"This was a good game for this team today. We are executing our offense and defense and we are playing like a team. Westlake was a very good team and we needed a good test today. Although we lost, I think we passed the test and this will serve us well as we get closer to the heart of South District play."

The D1 game that followed between the same schools wasn't lacking in the excitement department either as The Woodlands came back and won after being down most of the game.

Freshman sensation, Ramsey McCreary knotted the score at 10 with six minutes to go as he played like a seasoned veteran all afternoon. Ben Perry then scored on a nice feed from Gavin Planeta with 3:12 remaining to go up 11-10 and the Highlanders were able to fend off #14 state ranked Westlake the rest of the way.

Senior team captain, Gus Pinsonneault led the way for The Woodlands with four goals and an assist. McCreary ended up with three goals. Perry found twine twice while Brentley Kalata and Ryan Billig had a goal each. Goaltender, A.J. Thorpe started off slow but came up huge when it counted as he thwarted 14 Westlake efforts.

Along with playing lockdown defense, Defenseman Grant Murphy was all over the field as evidenced by his chipping in on the offensive end with two assists. Wait...there's more...Murphy led the team with four ground balls for good measure. Matt Mahoney had an assist and won five face offs.

Coach Keith Tintle shared his thoughts on the day's festivities...

"We knew going into the game that we'd probably start off slow since we have not played a game in a while as our last three games have been canceled due to weather. We just needed to hang in there and keep playing with great effort. Westlake is a fast team with great stick skills and great coaching."

Tintle continued..." We were the last game to be played on Jack Schantz Day and before the game we honored a middle school girl lacrosse player, Hannah Skomp who passed away recently. Her sister, Taylor spoke before the game thanking everyone. Taylor showed unbelievable strength as she talked about her sister."

"Everything was in perspective now so we just needed to go out and compete to win. I am proud of our team as we struggled catching and throwing in the early going and fell behind at half, 5-3. In scoring the first goal of the third quarter, we knew the game was now ON. We were down 10-8 in the middle of the fourth (quarter) but we never gave up and scored three unanswered goals to win 11-10. I have no doubt that Jack's spirit had a lot to do with this blue collar win combined with Hannah Skomp and the strength of her sister and mother. After the game, we got together and broke our huddle with a loud "Hannah".

The echo of Hannah's name could be heard reverberating around the Gullo complex.

A perfect ending to a perfect day.