Photo by Michael Johnson
Livonia's Mitchell Kinney helped the Bulldogs beat Aquinas Tuesday night.
Lacrosse
Livonia lacrosse stops Aquinas
LIVONIA — A victory over an Aquinas team is always a joy to experience.
A victory over an undefeated, state-ranked Aquinas team, well, that’s euphoric.
That’s the feeling the Livonia lacrosse team was experiencing following their 8-6 victory over visiting Aquinas Tuesday night in GRALL action.
Aquinas entered the game 6-0 and ranked No. 8 in the state in Class C.
They left 6-1.
The victory for Livonia avenged their earlier loss to Aquinas as the Bulldogs fell 13-4 at Wegmans Field.
This time around, however, would be different.
Cody Cisco came up big by scoring three goals for Livonia, who built a 7-1 lead with 10:45 left in the third period.
Although Aquinas would go on a 5-1 run in the final 22-plus minutes, it would not be enough as the Bulldogs got the victory.
Cisco scored the first two goals of the game off assists from Josh Wester as the Bulldogs led 2-0 after one period.
Livonia kept up the heavy pressure in the second period as Wyatt Struble scored off a feed from Derek Bishopp, and just a minute later, Wester scored his lone goal of the game to put the orange and blue up 4-0.
Cisco would strike again before the half off a pass from Struble during a man-up situation that made it 5-0.
Aquinas finally scored with 6:35 remaining in the second off an unassisted goal from Joe Snook.
Bishopp’s goal on a drive from the top of the restraining line gave the Bulldogs the 6-1 lead at the break.
Aquinas would outscore Livonia 3-1 in the third period with Livonia’s only goal coming from Mitchell Kinney off a pass from Wester.
Livonia led 7-4 with one period left.
Bishopp scored in the fourth period for Livonia that put his squad up 8-5.
Aquinas would score with 4:44 left to make it 8-6 but that was the final goal of the game.
A key factor in Livonia’s win was the Bulldogs outshooting their opponents 34-17.
The junior Bishopp finished 10-of-16 (63%) at the face-off and added three ground balls.
Defenseman Sean Kidder led Livonia with eight ground balls while Nick Jonasse and Wester each added five.
In the cage, Ethan Jamison finished with six saves.
Livonia (3-2) will play at Marcus Whitman Thursday.
