Greyhounds do 'their jobs' as Pope defeats Sequoyah 10-9 in OT, advances to second round of playoffs

Pope's Harrison Wetzler #5 battles Sequoyah's Jacob Bertils #30 for ball possession

On Monday, the Georgia High School Association lacrosse state championship tournament began and in the boys Division II bracket, the Pope Greyhounds hosted the Sequoyah Chiefs in a rematch from their matchup from back in early March, in which the Chiefs picked up the 9-8 win.

And while the Greyhounds would have an opportunity avenge their loss to Sequoyah, they would also have an opportunity to begin head coach, Carl Pfaff's final playoff run with a first round victory as he announced his retirement earlier this season.

While Cason Diamond, who finished with three goals, would give Sequoyah the early 1-0 lead, Pope would outscore the Chiefs 3-1 to close out the opening period with a 3-2 lead. As the second quarter got underway, senior Charlie Leyman, who also ended the night with three goals, would assist on two of the Greyhounds three goals in the period as they took a 5-2 lead, but the Chiefs would not be undone, scoring three unanswered goals to tie the game 5-5 before the half would end with the game tied six all.

Regaining momentum, Pope would score the only two goals of the third quarter and then tack on one more with the first goal of the fourth quarter, helping them take another three point lead as they went up 9-6 following Leyman's third goal. However, Sequoyah would go on another run, scoring three unanswered to tie the game at nine all with 2:06 remaining in the game and eventually forcing overtime.

Once in the sudden death period of play, Leyman would once again work his magic and make a move from the X and connecting with Carson Koehler for the second time of the night and Koehler, who also had three goals, scoring the decisive game winning goal to give the Greyhounds the 10-9 overtime win, advancing to the second round of the playoff.

"That's a great team. They played us tough twice this year and fortunately we won the correct one," Pfaff said following Monday's win, praising his players for their performance and ability to withstand Sequoyah's various runs throughout the night.

"The message for me is always do your job. The guys know that. Do your your job, stay focused, be ready to help," Pfaff said of his remainders throughout the night to his players as they found themselves leading by as many as three goals twice in Monday's game, only to have the Chiefs battle back to tie the game on both occasions.

Now with North Oconee next up for the Greyhounds, Pfaff, who began coaching Pope in 2010, believes defensive communication and "making better shot selection on the second shot," will be key areas for the team to work on as they prep for their second round matchup. "They're a number one seed and have a couple of really good players," Pfaff said of North Oconee.