Brussels, the most fabulous pitch of the Belgian Lacrosse league hosted a tense match between the new & improved ISB Raiders and the recovering Ghent Goblins. Both teams had something to gain with this match: to conquer (for the Raiders) or defend (for the Goblins) the third position in the Belgian League. After their victory over the Brewers they were the team to fear.

When the Goblins first met the Raiders, they received an easy victory. But as the months went by, word got around that this was not the team they faced before. Their teamplay grew exponentially and they already possessed the technical skills; this would not be an easy battle. The Raiders enforced their team with some new faces: Tony Holt and coach Greg Murawsky, both (very) experienced players.

The fast and technical play from the Raiders earned them a quick goal from Lorenzo Cook. This was answered by the Goblin-train (Edward Diehl) who rushed through the whole ISB defence and tied the score. Alexandre Joos followed his example and assisted Pieter de Baets in an assist. The Raiders’ coach showed he had a killer shot and placed the equalizer in the bottom corner of the goal. It was a fast game with a lot of attacks by both teams and Felix de Can managed to place Van Cauwenberge’s assist in behind the goalie from ISB. The first quarter end with 2 – 3 for the green team.

The second quarter was more or less a duplication of the first one: three Goblin goals and two from the Raiders. ISB player Alban Clayburgh showed what he had in stock with an assist and a goal.

Both teams went into half-time with 4-6 on the scoreboard. The Goblins’ confidence rose but they kept last week’s loss from the Brewers in mind. ISB was able to make an astonishing comeback, so the game wasn’t played yet! Since the team from Ghent didn’t have a fixed goalie, they used a rotation from a few players. Lisa and Robin protected the goalie in the first half and then defender Thomas Baronius was ready to take on the role of goalkeeper, while midfielder Tom Rasquin took his place in the defence.

The Raiders clearly had the same fighting spirit  from last week because in the third quarter they showed what they could do as a team. Speedy Hannes Vandenbossche upped the Goblins’ score with another point with an assist from Felix de Can. Then a turning point came: the Raiders quickly scored three goals and tied the game at 7-7. This could go in either direction! Almost at the end of the third quarter, Hannes managed to favor the Goblins by scoring and ending the quarter with 7-8. Nothing was decided yet.

The final quarter started with another powerful equalizer from Greg Murawsky, increasing tension between both teams. The Goblins then managed to regroup and forge a win out of their skills. Felix De Can scored and assisted, while Lorenzo Cook showed his skills with another goal. Edward Diehl then mentally cracked the Raiders by scoring again in the last few minutes of the game. The match ended with an (un)fortunate deflected shot from Dieter Van Der Hallen that increased the gap for the Raiders.

The Goblins took the win again and managed to secure their third position in the league.

Tom Rasquin

ISB Raiders – Ghent Goblins 9-12 (2-3, 2-3, 3-2, 2-4)

* Lorenzo Cook
* Edward Diehl
* Pieter De Baets (Alexandre Joos)
* Greg Murawsky (Pearce Keesling)
* Felix De Can (Jan Van Cauwenberge)
* Pieter De Baets
* Greg Murawsky (Alban Clayburgh)
* Alexandre Joos
* Bob Smarius
* Alban Clayburgh
* Hannes Van Den Bossche (Felix De Can)
* Lorenzo Cook
* Daan Paardekooper (Greg Murawsky)
* Tony Holt
* Hannes Van Den Bossche
* Greg Murawsky (Daan Paardekooper)
* Felix De Can (Hannes Van Den Bossche)
* Jan Van Cauwenberge (Felix De Can)
* Lorenzo Cook
* Edward Diehl
* Dieter Van Der Hallen

MVP: Felix De Can
MVP other team: Thomas Haitsma
Ref: Kevin De Smet