Creating own Hartland lacrosse legacy, Drew Lockwood scores 8 goals in quarterfinal rout

HOWELL — Drew Lockwood is constantly reminded of his older brother, Bo.

And not always in flattering ways.

“Yeah, on the field, everybody’s always chirping me, saying, ‘Oh, you’re just the younger brother,’” said Lockwood, a junior lacrosse player for Hartland. “I think that fuels me. I think I play better when they say it, because it just makes me mad.”

Drew Lockwood may never become the next Bo Lockwood, but that’s OK. The state of Michigan may never see another Bo Lockwood, whose 565 career points in only three seasons rank second in state history.

Being Drew Lockwood is pretty special in its own right.

Lockwood scored a career-high eight goals and dished out two assists Friday night in a 21-3 rout of Muskegon Mona Shores in a Division 1 state quarterfinal game at Parker Middle School.

“Drew wakes up every morning and he’s going to go be Drew Lockwood; that’s his deal,” Hartland coach Nick Levanti said. “He loves the game. He wants to go hard. He wants to be the best in everything he does. That’s something you’re born with.

“I’m really proud of that kid for so many reasons. He’s a tremendous young man off the field and a great lacrosse player. He’s a pleasure to work with. I’ve had a chance to work with all the Lockwoods in some capacity. Drew is one of a kind. He’s not worried about that. He’s just going ahead and being himself and really enjoying the game.”

The youngest of four Lockwood brothers to play for the Eagles isn’t following in anyone’s footsteps, but rather creating his own legacy. His performance against Mona Shores boosted his totals to 85 goals and 38 assists in 22 games.

“I think I was born into it,” Lockwood said.

With the loss of the 96 goals and 121 assists Bo Lockwood produced last season for a state championship team, Drew Lockwood was among several Eagles who had to elevate their scoring output this season. He had 44 goals and 39 assists last season after tallying 33 goals and 18 assists as a freshman.

As a third-year player, he also had to become more of a leader.

“He’s a junior captain for us,” Levanti said. “He wears that ‘C’ proudly. He is all that embodies our culture in so many ways with his hard work, his gritty play, his toughness. It’s infectious to play around him with how hard he goes. Other guys see that. They want to respond and they want to go hard as well. You can say that about a lot of guys on our roster."

The Eagles advanced to the state semifinals for the third straight season and the fifth time in the past six seasons. As has been the case in their previous four semifinal appearances, the opponent will be Detroit Catholic Central Wednesday at Parker Middle School. Three of the four meetings have been decided by one goal, including Hartland’s 8-7 victory last season.

This is where things finally get serious for the Eagles. So far, they’ve had their way with four badly overmatched opponents, outscoring them 88-8. Friday’s game ended after three quarters because of the mercy rule.

Keeping focused in lopsided games such as these is a feat in and of itself.

“It’s not too difficult,” Levanti said. “I like to bring some energy in the right way and make sure these guys are up and there’s a nice sense of urgency. But they do a great job of policing one another and making sure the tempo’s up. We have great veteran leadership, especially in our senior class.”

It was the second-largest blowout in the final round of a Division 1 tournament behind only Birmingham Brother Rice’s 26-3 semifinal victory over Troy Athens in 2008.

The Eagles would have shattered that record had they maintained a torrid early pace. They led 12-0 after one quarter, with Joey Mattord scoring a natural hat trick in a span of 1 minute and 2 seconds. Lockwood had his hat trick with 3:31 left in the quarter.

Mona Shores scored twice in the first 1:29 of the second quarter to slow the onslaught somewhat.

Hartland led 16-2 at halftime and scored the final five goals to trigger the mercy rule, which goes into effect when the margin reaches 18 goals after three quarters.

Dylan Ayotte had four goals and two assists, while Gavin Preston and Jake Lewis scored twice for Hartland. Evan Busby won 22 of 24 faceoffs.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Drew Lockwood scores 8 goals in Hartland lacrosse quarterfinal rout