By Bryce Tinsley ‘23

The Brother Rice Crusaders traveled to Lombard to play against the Montini Catholic Broncos. The Crusaders lost 6-1, falling to a record of 1-6.

The Crusaders are having a rough season, winning only one of their first seven.

Junior Jack Leong said, “It’s frustrating to say the least. Going 1-6 is not what we wanted for sure, but that’s behind us now. I think this’ll scare some of the younger guys to go a little harder at practice; I know it made me play harder. Nobody wants to have a losing record, and it boils down to being on us really. Personally, I feel bad for the seniors. Going out on a losing record? That hurts, especially when they put in so much work, and they have for four years now.”

Rice got down early, trailing 3-0 going into halftime.

After halftime, Brother Rice looked much better. They were locking down the Broncos, getting to balls faster. The Broncos finally netted a shot, taking the lead to 4-0 at the end of three.

Brother Rice was in trouble, with only one quarter left to make up some ground. With the clock ticking down, Rice was on the offensive. Taking shot after shot, the Crusaders got on the board late. Before the final buzzer, the Broncos put in another two, taking the lead up to 6-1.

Senior Jack McGuffage said, “Rough game. Not much else to say about it. We’re coming to play next game, be ready. Losing 6-1 is a bad look. But even the best teams have bad games. People never remember the start, the finish is what matters, and we’re gunning for a much better record than 1-6. Something isn’t clicking right now, and when we figure it out, we’ll be in that win column game after game. You have to have a next up mentality, not get stuck up on losses.”