By Madeleine Nichols
TopLaxRecruits,com, Posted 5/16/15

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. – Wheaton Jackoboice and Jackson Reid each had four goals and three assists today as Culver Military Academy (IN) defeated host Brother Rice in the first-round game at the 5th annual North America Lacrosse Invitational.

The win moves Culver (16-4) into the championship game of the Ambrose Red (top seeded teams) Sunday at 10:30 a.m. vs. rival Hill Academy. Hill routed Detroit Country Day (MI) 18-3.

The tourney features most of the top teams in the Midwest. Culver is ranked No. 2 in the TopLaxRecruits.comMidwest Rankings and Hill – No. 4 in the Epoch Lacrosse North America Rankings – is No. 1.

Culver – which has defeated Brother Rice (12-4), the 12-time defending Michigan state champion, three times this year – raced to a 7-2 first-period lead and never looked back.

EthanWalker added four goals and an assist and Dawson McKenzie had two goals and one assist.

“Our game plan was just to come out and play our game,” said Culver junior midfielder Ryan Prior, a Michigan commit. “We just (wanted) do what we do best and play fast.”

Prior said his team has grown considerably since a 4-3 start.

“I think that we’ve shown a lot of improvement,” he said “We’ve come out every day to practice ready to work and everybody has been getting better every day.”

The win allowed Culver to begin thinking about another matchup with Hill. Last time they met on April 19, Hill won, 13-6.

“I think that we are going to have to win it off the ground,” said Prior. “We have to win face-offs and ground balls and really play hard and play aggressive.”

Morgan Macko andRiley North each scored twice for Brother Rice and John Lockwood had as goal and an assist.

Brother Rice 2-1-2-2 – 7
Culver Academy 7-4-3-4 – 18

Culver
Alex Johnson 2g
Jackson Reid 4g, 3a
Ethan Walker 4g, 1a
Anthony George 2a
Wheaton Jackoboice 4g, 3a
Dawson McKenzie 2g, 1a
Brodie Gillespie 1a
Colin Courtney 1g
Ryan Prior 1g

Brother Rice
Bo Pickens 1g
Cole Hyde 1g
Morgan Macko 2g
Jack Kelly 1a
Riley North2g
John Lockwood 1g, 1a