Expectations never waver for the Eastside Catholic Crusaders boys lacrosse team.

The Crusaders bolted out to a 8-1 lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 19-5 win against the Stanwood Spartans on April 16 at Eastside Catholic High School in Sammamish. Eastside Catholic improved their overall record to 6-1. Crusaders’ head coach Gordon Macllvennie was pleased with the victory but said his team still has plenty of room for improvement.

“It wasn’t our best game but it resulted in a ‘W’. We just need to continue to get better each and every game. Tonight was a good victory but it wasn’t our best victory,” Macllvennie said.

James Wehe scored a game-high six goals and Zack Steffens added five goals to pace Eastside Catholic’s offensive attack. Ethan Schriever and Ryan Grazko added two goals as well in the victory. Steffens said the Crusaders didn’t have a solid second quarter. Eastside Catholic outscored Stanwood 4-2 in the second period of play.

“We came out pretty strong (first quarter) and then we kind of let them back into the game. They were a very tenacious team. At halftime our coaches gave us a good pep talk and we responded. We worked on being more physical and working hard through every second of the game,” Steffens said.

The Crusaders outscored the Spartans 7-2 in the final two quarters of play.

“We just have to play smart and play Eastside Catholic lacrosse. That is what we started to do in the second half,” Macllvennie said.

Steffens said his team’s sole goal is to hoist a state championship trophy in late May.

“If we don’t win state this season, it’s a failure,” Steffens said. “That’s the No. 1 goal without a doubt. We play really smart, fast and are well coached.”

The Crusaders will host the Bishop Blanchet Braves on April 24 in Sammamish. Eastside Catholic has won six games in a row since losing its season opener to Corner Canyon (Utah).