The Sports Informant

When I wrote for the Folsom Telegraph last week that the Folsom-Cordova United varsity lacrosse team secured a playoff spot with its win over the rival and neighbor Orangevale Rams on May 1, there was a lot of speculation as to who was going where, who was playing whom, and who was done for the year.

Folsom-Cordova and Orangevale battled in heavy rain on May 1. (Photo courtesy Mark Hronicek)

As the dust settled after the final weekend of regular season play, it looks like it was good news for both area teams, as they’re both in the postseason, even if one has to drive a little further than the other.

Folsom-Cordova avenged its 14-10 April 1 loss to the Rams on May 1 (read the Folsom Telegraph story here), crushing the Rams 16-5 under a heavy rain to earn home field advantage in the first round of the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association playoffs. The United will the face CITY Outlaws on May 9 at John Kemp Park in Folsom.

What would happen to Orangevale was up in the air.

A head-to-head matchup for the third time still isn't out of the question. (Photo courtesy Mark Hronicek)

“Well, hopefully we get into the playoffs,” Orangevale coach Ben Goudy said after the loss. “It depends on what everyone else does.”

Speculation after the loss to the United on May 1 had the Rams possibly facing Folsom-Cordova a third time in the first round of the playoffs if the Chico Rebels were to lose to Tomahawks on May 3 as expected. It didn’t happen.

Instead, Chico battled to a 9-8 win, securing a first round rematch with Tomahawks in the playoffs and sending Orangevale all the way to Casa Grande High School for an away game at Petaluma on May 9. Orangevale got in, but it wasn’t ideal.

“Hopefully, we’ll just regroup and get ready for next week,” Goudy said. “It’s gonna be interesting. It’s gonna be a hard week of practice.”

As for Folsom, a home game couldn’t be sweeter.

Full speed in the rain? No problem. (Photo courtesy Mark Hronicek)

“We’ve never had a home field playoff game, so it’s kind of a milestone and we’re happy to be doing it,” Folsom-Cordova coach Mike Messersmith told me. “It’s important because we’re so spread out. We would much rather play at our home field.”

“It’s big when you have the audience come out and everything,” United attacker Brian Anderson said. “Everyone is telling you they are gonna come out. It’s really motivating.”

Folsom-Cordova will look for a different outcome than last year. A season ago, the United had to travel to face the eventual state champions. Needless to say, the United were sent home packing after a first round loss.

“It was brutal,” Messersmith said. “It was a brutal week of practice leading up to it because despite our best efforts, we saw the writing on the wall with that.”

This year, however, both coaches agreed things should be shaken up a bit.

“Everybody is beating everybody, so it’ll be an interesting playoff no matter what,” Goudy said. “There’s gonna be an upset, if not two. It could be all bottom seeds that win every game.”

“There’s so much parity, as you can see. (Orangevale) took it to us well in the last game and we got a little payback. There’s so much parity top to bottom that the No. 1 seed might not make that much of a difference.”

We’ll find out this weekend, lacrosse fans. Come back to The Sports Informant for an update, hopefully one that includes news of both teams advancing to meet one another again.