By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

Thursday night’s final regular-season contest was more than just a game for the LBJ boys lacrosse team. For many, it was their final chance to win, just once, in their entire high school varsity career.

Several seniors gave motivational speeches to the underclassmen before the opening face-off to let them know just how important this last game was to them. And they must have taken it to heart, because when the Jaguars trailed in the fourth quarter, they found the resilience and drive to come back for the first time.

Senior middie Zane Rankin scored the go-ahead goal with 4:11 remaining in regulation to lift LBJ to a 7-6 victory over Dripping Springs in a Texas High School Lacrosse League Central District game to give the Jaguars their first victory since 2007.

Senior attackman Alex Blackard scored a team-high three goals, senior middie Travis Owens had two goals and an assist and Rankin and freshman attackman Matt Goodman each scored once, as LBJ (1-9) snapped a 25-game losing streak against varsity teams. LBJ finished the season 1-11 when losses to Austin and Westwood’s JV programs are included.

Senior goalie Ben Shelton saved six shots for LBJ, which won for the first time since April 13, 2007, when it beat Keystone, a program that no longer exists, 5-3. The Jaguars trailed, 6-5, in the fourth quarter before rallying to score the game’s final two goals.

“We have 10 seniors on the team this year, so we were going to go out with all the seniors on the field at once,” LBJ head coach Jonathan Schultz said. “When we tied the game up, our momentum was way too strong for us to do anything but win.”

Dripping Springs, a Division III team that played a hybrid schedule of varsity and JV competition, finished its first year as a program with a 5-6 record against all competition and a 1-2 record against varsity teams.

LBJ led 2-1 at the end of the first quarter, the game was tied, 3-3, at halftime and Dripping Springs led 6-5 at the end of the third.

With just 12 minutes remaining, however, LBJ did the unthinkable for a team so accustomed to defeat: They overcame the deficit.

Owens scored the equalizer with 7:50 remaining to tie it, 6-6. That set the stage for Rankin, who was just honored as a U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American, to score the biggest goal of his career.

Afterward, LBJ held on for a tense four minutes. And when the final horn went off, finally signaling a victory, a wild celebration ensued from a truly ecstatic group.

“I think for a good three or four seconds there was just disbelief, and then everyone just completely erupted,” Schultz said. “There was screaming, yelling, chaos on the field. It was the first chance they’ve had to cheer at the end of a game.”