Suffolk News-Herald

Justin Schleeper had his first two-goal varsity game as Lakeland took a decisive 5-2 win from host Franklin Monday evening. Schleeper knocked in assists from Aaron Stacy and Jake Conrad, then assisted on a Matt Ragle goal.

After the Cavaliers banged 11 unsuccessful shots toward the Bronco goal, Stacy stopped a goal kick near midfield just over 15 minutes in. He brought the ball back down the center of the field, then knocked it over to Schleeper, who slipped it in from the left corner.

Another barrage of shots didn’t make it, but Schleeper scored again with 8:36 to go, taking a pass from Conrad and slamming it into the upper-right corner. &uot;We needed to pass and move around their defense,&uot; Schleeper said, &uot;and take some shots when they were open. My teammates were switching sides and hitting the open man, and that’s what you need to do to score.&uot;

With less than a minute to play, Matt Revelle took a pass in the center of the field, just inside the Franklin goal box. He stood still for a moment, then faked out a rushing defender. Juking to his left, he grounded a pass between three other defenders to Stacy, who knocked in the team’s third goal, giving Lakeland a 3-0 lead and 29-3 shooting advantage, and goalkeeper Jeff Gilmet a scoreless half.

The Cavaliers didn’t waste time, as Conrad notched a goal less than 90 seconds into the second half. Stacy again stole a goal kick, and this time headed toward the right corner. He passed to the center, where Schleeper and a defender met the ball at the same time, sending it to Conrad near the edge of the goal box. He boomed it into the left corner of the net for a 4-0 advantage.

Less than three minutes later, the lead was extended again. Schleeper blasted a corner kick toward the center, where a jumping Ragle managed to deflect it into the upper left corner. Daniel Childress and Fabian Thoma scored later for Franklin. In junior varsity competition, J.P. Sanchez had a hat trick as the younger Cavaliers won 4-0, with Sam Lashells nailing the other goal. The Lakeland boys and girls teams will head to Heritage today.