GRANDVILLE, Mich. — “We have a big group of seniors and we really want to be the ones to win the first regional championship at our school,” said senior midfielder Devin Koetje.
"May 31 regional finals will be there," said Moske.
Grandville boys lacrosse has only been around less than a decade, but already the Bulldogs are making their way into the upper ranks of the best lacrosse teams in West Michigan.
"Historically we're not the best team but we had a lot of group of guys coming up that we're we can play and when we want to sell the conference in the region that we are a team that can play this year," said Jakob Moske.
With a month of games under their belt, Grandville now stands at 5-1. Their lone loss coming to East Grand Rapids on Saturday, but the biggest game of the year for them may have already happened.
"This was the first time beating them and this is our seventh year having a team and I was just one of those big things where it's like they're kind of that team even like for other conferences, for other sports and OK Red are like the one team really want to beat so it was just really good feeling to finally beat them," said Koetje.
"That was a big one for our school you know, we were looking forward to that we had an ever since last year and that tough loss at regional finals. We had a game circled when you wanted to come out and be and we put the we were the better team. We'll see him again this year.
"Our goal this year, we've had a kind of a battle it's been changed the narrative. You know, programs like you said Rockford, East Grand Rapids Forest Hills, you know, they've been kind of the dominant forces in lacrosse in West Michigan. You know, and they're well known across the state and this year, you know, we want to let everyone know that we're up and coming and we're there," said Head Coach Jeremy Strunk.
Rockford ended the Bulldogs 2021 season. A brutal 16-5 loss in the regional final, but they’ve got other plans this year.
"I mean, last year, we thought we're gonna have a good hard fight and our regional championship we played really well our first two games playoffs and we showed up and got smacked pretty bad and that's kind of left a chip on our shoulders and all of us are kinda, we're on a revenge tour," said Koetje.
"We had a meeting after after the end of the season. And you know, I kind of sat there with seniors. I said, What do you guys want out of next year? I you know, I told them like what they're capable of. So that's, you know, that's been the goal all year. We've been talking about it regional finals we got there last year. We expect to be there again this year. And our goal is to win," said Strunk.
Talk is good, but can they actually do it? So far this season, Grandville has won their first five games by more than seven goals. They credit that to strength on offense, and changes to their schemes thanks to second year head coach Jeremy Strunk.
"Top solid defense and solid riding, if we can keep the ball in the offensive zone. We got got some guys who can score," said Moske.
"We changed some things up scheme wise from last year. And the kids had picked up on it. I mean, like like that. And I think that's a credit to the seniors and the captains. I mean, I view them as an extension of the coaching staff," said Strunk.
Next up will be a game against Grand Rapids Christian on Tuesday April 19th, but the guys know that game is just a stop on the road to where they really want to be.
"May 31 regional finals will be there," said Moske.
