Woodstown lacrosse goalie surpasses 700 career saves in fourth straight win, streaking Wolverines eyeing SJ Group I playoff berth
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
SICKLERVILLE – Bryce Downer is the type of player who has always wanted more. When the Woodstown goalie started playing high school lacrosse he thought 500 career saves would be a nice round milestone to hit. When he reached it last season he wanted more. When 600 came earlier this season he wanted more still.
Career save No. 700 landed on his doorstep Thursday in the Wolverines 12-2 win at Timber Creek. It came early in the third quarter of his 61st career game.
“For me personally, I feel like it’s a milestone that I’ve set ever since I started my freshman year,” the Holy Family-bound senior said. “I always wanted to hit at least 500 and then when I hit 500 I wanted 600 and as soon as I hit 600 I wanted 700. I’ve always been the person who’d always want more.
“Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to hit the 800 mark, but I’m going to try my best to get as far as I can.”
Downer needed six saves to reach the number and recorded 12 in the game. The milestone save came on what he called a “pretty nice shot” that he “saw from the start, locked in, ready for the ball.”
There was no fanfare when No. 700 was secured. He simply turned the shot away and sent his offense off to create its own scoring chance, which is what he sees his role as a goalie being all about anyway. They might have played on, but he made sure he got the ball, which now will be on display with the balls representing saves 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600.
He had 204 saves as a freshman, 142 as a sophomore, 180 last year and after Thursday 180 this season. The website laxnumbers.com lists only 25 New Jersey boys lacrosse goalies with 700 or more career saves and only three from as recently as 2023.
Of course, Downer may be the last line of defense for the Wolverines, but he’s not a man alone back there. He credited his defense with helping him reach the milestone.
“My defense, they’re amazing,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in the spot where I am without them. Throughout my whole four years I’ve had amazing guys in front of me and I’m grateful for that.
“You can’t hold someone to zero shots. Everybody’s going to hook up shots, it’s just the type of shots they put up. four years I’ve had amazing guys. My defense forces the opponent into harder shots and it helps me see the ball and save the ball more times than not.”
The win was Woodstown’s fourth in a row after an 0-11 start and has the Wolverines thinking about a South Jersey Group I playoff bid. The Wolverines currently sit 19th in the sectional power points standings with two games left before the May 19 cutoff – at 3-11 Camden Catholic Saturday and 6-7 Bishop Eustace at home on cutoff day.
Downer has given up just seven goals in the last four games (while masking 39 saves). He even posted his first shutout of the season and second of his career in the stretch.
“Beginning of the year we started off with Cedar Creek and that was a hard (7-5) loss for us,” Downer said. “We had a decent amount of hard losses after that, but we also played some hard teams. But something this team is really good at is never giving up. Never giving up om each other, always had each other’s back, and that’s what I really like about this team.
“These past four games we really just put our heads, went to work every day at practice and came out on top. Our team’s always high energy. We’re a group of guys who just like to go out, have fun, fly around and do the best you can. The past four games they’ve been able to fly around a lot, have a lot of fun.”
Bryce Downer File
| YEAR | GP | SAVES | GOALS |
| 2022-23 | 14 | 204 | 123 |
| 2023-24 | 17 | 142 | 140 |
| 2024-25 | 16 | 180 | 170 |
| 2025-26 | 14 | 180 | 142 |
| TOTAL | 61 | 706 | 576 |
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