Richland Lacrosse Club advances in state playoffs

Starting from the bottom a couple of years ago, the Richland Lacrosse Club has worked hard to become one of the top high school teams in Washington.

Richland (14-4) will face Klahowya for a Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association Division II state semifinal berth at 1 p.m. Saturday in Silverdale.

The Richland and Southridge lacrosse clubs were born when the Three Rivers Lacrosse high school boys program was divided into two separate WHSBLA-approved teams after its 2013 state semifinal season.

The Richland Lacrosse Club is open to high school boys who live within the Richland, Pasco or Kiona-Benton City school districts. Those inside the boundaries for the Kennewick, Finley or Walla Walla school districts can join the Southridge club.

The Three Rivers starters from the 2013 team either graduated or joined the Southridge club after the split.

With the cupboard somewhat bare in its first season, Richland went 2-12.

“I’d say the transition was very rough,” said Richland senior co-captain Hayden Ruckhaber, who was on the 2013 Three Rivers team as a freshman. “By no means was it easy, but I do believe one of the main reasons why we were able to do it is the guys. We had an amazing sense of teamwork and team effort, and had an idea of what we knew we could be and wanted to be.”

This year, Richland finished second in the Division II Central-South Conference. The team beat Central Valley 11-3 last Saturday at Carmichael Middle School in Richland for its first playoff win.

“It was cool to be able to have that feeling again,” Ruckhaber said. “I remember that being a freshman and not really understanding the weight behind it — like, ‘Wow, this is really cool’ — but now as a senior and especially as Richland Lacrosse, it was very monumental.”

For coach Chad Mitchell, the pain of that first season has been eased by this team’s accomplishments.

“This is a group effort,” Mitchell said. “Guys coming out and working hard, committed to doing their jobs. It’s not the same players in the box scores every game. Eight out of our eleven goals last Saturday came from assists. That says a lot about the selflessness of our players. Our guys do the important things that don’t show up on the stats sheet. Our guys don’t play for stats, they play for the team, and I think that’s a big key to our success.”

Ruckhaber, who attends Richland High School, and his co-captains, Hanford’s Vincent Sliva and Ben Casas, will continue their lacrosse careers in college. Ruckhaber is set to attend Division II North Greenville University in South Carolina. Sliva plans to go to Arizona State, and Casas is committed to Sonoma State University.

Mitchell has been grateful for the senior leadership of Ruckhaber, Sliva, Casas, Chandan Singh (Richland) and Steven Joplin (Hanford).

“Three years ago, they bought into a vision and committed to doing the hard work (and battled through the frustration that can easily wear you down) to build up a program,” Mitchell said. “The foundation is set. The youngsters are well prepared to step up and keep building. It really has been an inspiring journey that these young men will remember for a long time.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Richland Lacrosse Club advances in state playoffs."