Varsity men’s lacrosse destroyed Serra High School in their third league game of the season 18-7 on March 8.

Piedmont brought the heat from the start, scoring four goals in the first quarter and five in the second, leaving the game at 9-3 at half time.

“I think practice this week was a lot more intense,” assistant Varsity men’s lacrosse coach Alex Epstein said. “They played intense in practice, and they came out hot and scored 18 goals.”

Senior captain Ryan Ellis said the team has had a tough start this season, losing their first two games and rarely meeting their full potential. However, he said the biggest difference in this game was that they played all four quarters as hard as we could and to the best of their ability. They never let their lead get to their heads, he said.

Defensive players senior Teddy Heafey, senior Charlie Hanf, and junior Adam Kurkjian held off Serra’s attack with aggression, leaving them unable to score in the third quarter.

Goals were scored by senior Mark Bublitz (2), junior Chad Finkel (1), junior Peter Lally (1), senior Jack Moe (1), senior Charlie Hanf (1), sophomore Quinn Burnett (4), junior Ale Chiodo (1), sophomore Chase Betta (2), senior Ryan Ellis (2), and junior Matt Price (3).

Senior Justin Roach led a strong transition, using his speed to move the ball up the field to the offense, which led to an assist to Burnett. Burnett crease-rolled the goal and scored an upper-left corner shot.

Hanf got the ball from goalie junior Drummond Thompson off a clear and ran the entire length of the field to score.

“Drummond had a huge game in goal,” Epstein said. “Everyone played all around well.”

Ellis said his favorite part of the team is how close they are.

“We’ve spent a lot of time as a group and it shows on the field,” Ellis said. “It’s very easy to play when everybody is comfortable with their teammates.”

In their upcoming game against University, Epstein says they want to keep the intensity up.