With the clock winding down and frustrations mounting on both sidelines, the Ypsilanti Lincoln and Ann Arbor Huron boys' lacrosse teams ended their game Monday night with a bit of a scuffle near the Railsplitters' bench.

The game, won by the River Rats 9-3, was already in hand, but the light shoving and shouting was the culmination of four quarter's worth of intensely physical play from both sides.

"They're high school students, and when they pick up a few early penalties, they get a little frustrated," said Collin Daniels, who was filling in for his father and Lincoln coach Jeff Daniels. "And then that frustration turns into even more penalties and more frustration. It was just a downward spiral.

"A lot of it is just putting what happened in the past behind you. ... Instead, they got a little upset and started blaming the refs, and that took us out of the game, mentally."

Lincoln wasn't the only team that felt the frustration. Due to uneven and unkempt field conditions, the Rivers Rats' offensive gameplan, which utilizes ground balls and passing, was limited. Huron coach Joe Koengeter said his team had trouble setting up anything.

"It's really tough to play on those condition," Koengeter said. "You just have to keep them calm and make sure the players heads are in the game."

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The Railsplitters, who knew they would be outmatched athletically by the River Rats, had a clear gameplan: Slow the tempo down, make smart decisions with the ball to create quality scoring opportunities.

But Huron jumped to an early 4-1 lead, which flustered Lincoln. The team started pushing the tempo and looking for flashy, quick goals, which just accentuated the problem.

"They get that early lead, and we start doing the opposite of what we need to do," Daniels said. "We just need to play our game."

The Railspitters' breakdown on offense led to some easy scoring chances for Huron on the other end.

"In a game that physical, you gotta remember to play smart and keep your cool," said Huron's Henry Upton, who led all scorers with three goals. "You just have to take advantage of the situations that they give you, and we did that today."

Upton has been a solid scoring threat all season, and while he still got his production last night, Koengeter was pleased to see a more even stat sheet last night.

In previous games, teams have been able to key on Upton, because the rest of the team's production was lagging. But five different players scored at least once against Lincoln, and with that kind of distribution, the River Rats' offense is even more explosive.

And Koengeter was especially pleased with play of his two goalkeepers, Joe Fingerle and Lars Urbaniak, who each got a half of action last night.

Fingerle made two saves while giving up one go, and Urbaniak made seven saves and gave up two.

"I feel really good about our situation in the net right now," Koengeter said. "Fingerle has really stepped up, and I like that we've got two options back there that are ready to step up at any time."