‘Coming at you from everywhere’: Upper Arlington surging
Leo Caine frequently found himself in the right place at the right time during the second half of the Upper Arlington boys lacrosse team's 17-4 win Monday at Hilliard Davidson, scoring three times in the third quarter and assisting on a goal to help the Golden Bears more than double a six-goal halftime lead.
While his five-goal, two-assist night was what the senior attacker and Richmond recruit expected from himself this season, Caine sloughed off credit while taking time to appreciate the outing.
“I started out really hot, then I hit a stretch that wasn't great, but I think that's part of what I love about this team,” Caine said. “When I hit that stretch, we have a lot of guys who can score. If I play my game, if everyone plays theirs, I think we're unstoppable. But that's just really nice. Any one of us can have an off game and someone is there to pick us up . ...
“We're not looking to really stand out (individually). We're just looking to win a state championship.”
UA'S pursuit of a 17th state championship — and first since 2016 — will begin Monday at home against 16th-seeded Gahanna or 18th-seeded Newark in the second round of the Division I, Region 3 tournament. The top-seeded Bears, who are ranked first in the state this week by Laxnumbers.com, are seeking their third consecutive regional title.
Caine scored a season-high seven goals April 15 in a 20-9 rout of St. Louis Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School. That came three days after UA'S best offensive output of the season, when it put up 23 goals in a 20-goal win over Dublin Coffman.
The Bears are 14-1 overall and finished 5-0 in the Occ-central Division.
The Bears' lone loss was to Wilmington (Delaware) Salesianum.
“The nice thing about this group is there are a lot of guys who can (produce),” said coach Kyle Olson. “When we put it together and play as a team, it's fun to watch.”
Olson said a schedule including teams from eight states has prepared UA for a variety of situations.
“It's really about how do you learn from (a given situation),” he said. “We've done all our film in person, and that's been huge.”
Regardless of the Bears' history with any of their potential opponents, senior midfielder Evan D'herete thinks their depth will be key.
“We want to get the ball on everybody's stick and make sure we can attack from anywhere on the field,” he said. “We don't want anyone to scout us and get a good feeling of where they can stop UA. Hopefully it's, ‘No, UA is coming at you from everywhere.' ”