Just over halfway into the lacrosse season, the fledgling Wentzville boys lacrosse program under first-year coach Chris Benton was at a crossroads.
With five games left, Wentzville stood at 2-6 and had to virtually win out in order to make the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association (MSLA) playoffs.
That's exactly what Benton's team did in finishing the regular season 7-6 and earning the No. 8 seed in the MSLA Division II playoffs.
"We took things one game at a time, but the goal each day was to win," Wentzville junior middle Brad Fahs said. "Losing wasn't an option (in order to make the playoffs). We went out there (and thought) ‘we weren't going to lose' and we didn't."
One key game came against a combined Parkway Central/Parkway North team April 7.
In that game, Wentzville managed to pull out the 10-9 overtime win for the team's first of the season.
"After that game, we realized we could win and that we were a really good team," Fahs said. "That (Parkway) team finished off pretty well. After that game, we turned around and we knew what we were capable of doing if we just listened to the coaches."
Things really took off for Wentzville the weekend of April 30-May 1.
The team went on a trip to Springfield and defeated Republic 20-4 and Glendale 9-5.
"We let the guys know that if we could make something happen on that trip and if we could win both games, we'd have an opportunity to make the playoffs," Benton said. "The work ethic from the guys was there so it was great to see everybody rewarded."
Other wins in the five-game streak included victories over Fort Zumwalt, Columbia Hickman and Webster Groves.
The only problem for Wentzville was that the team's reward was a first-round date in the MSLA playoff with the Hazelwood Lacrosse Club, a team that had defeated Wentzville 18-3 earlier in the season.
While No. 7 seed Wentzville did bow out to the No. 2 seeded and eventual Division II state champion Hawks, it was only by a 7-4 score.
"They were completely different squads from March to May," Benton said. "The guys just continued to hang in there and they were able to execute what we'd been trying to teach them all along. It was exciting to see."
Benton said his team had two things going for it headed into the Hazelwood game.
One, his team had fully grasped the defensive scheme laid out before them by the playoffs and Wentzville was riding the high of that five-game win streak.
"It was really kind of exciting because we were doing actual lacrosse-type things."
Fahs said that he can't wait for next season to get here just so he and his teammates can keep working on those ‘lacrosse-type things' under the tutelage of Benton and the Wentzville coaches.
"I think it was great toward the end of the first year what we were able to accomplish," Fahs said. "By the time we've got two full years in with these coaches, I think we can do so much more.
"We entered the season with the goal of hosting a home playoff game and came up just short," continued Fahs. "I can't wait to see what we can accomplish next year."
