By the time lacrosse becomes an official TSSAA sport in 2022, Boyd Buchanan School expects to be a major state championship contender.
From the vision of a few fathers who formed a club lacrosse team for their children and others to join in fourth grade, six years later history has been made.
With freshmen comprising more than 75 percent of the roster and with only one upperclassman, junior Tyler Young, the Buccaneers opened a promising new era with a 10-6 home win over Chattanooga FCA in their first-ever high school match Friday.
Freshman Pierce Frost scored seven goals, several aided by classmate Colin Richardson. Aaron Sumrall was sharp with 11 saves.
While losing 10-8 Saturday to the senior-led University School of Nashville team, Boyd Buchanan fought to the end. Freshman Brody Grant scored twice in the final 41 seconds.
“One thing we want to instill in these boys is to leave a legacy,” coach Chris Richardson said. “We have a strong vision and have kids with a lot of heart. A lot of our boys have been playing five, six years together. It was a special moment for us all to play in our first game, have our first goal and first win.”
Richardson has a co-head coach, Pat Wagner, with experience in high school success. The 27-year-old Wagner helped lead Evangelical Christian School to TSLA state championships in 2016 and 2017 while compiling a record of 40-6 (.869). Steve Frost is an assistant coach.
The Boyd Buchanan ninth-graders lost just one lacrosse match in middle school, to McCallie, the previous two years.
The Bucs were tied 6-all with USN, 2016 state runner-up, after freshman Matthew Malone’s goal assisted by Pierce Frost with 9:54 left in the 12-minute final quarter. Frost scored three goals in the close loss.
“We have had heart since we were in sixth grade and went up against primarily eighth-graders,” he said. “We mesh really well together. If we can play off each other’s strengths and learn from our weaknesses, there is no reason we shouldn’t win a state championship or two here.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.