Friday - Central over Long Island in OT
The second day of the 2010 Empire State Games closed with Central holding the top Spot. Central (4-0) is the only remaining undefeated team after four games in round robin play. Long Island (3-1) brings up the second spot with their only loss coming during a sudden victory overtime loss against Central. The next group down includes Western (2-2) and Adirondack (2-2). Hudson Valley (1-3) and New York City (0-4) round out the tournament.
The major story of the day was the final game of the fourth round of play. Central and Long Island faced off in what will be the Gold Medal game on Sunday. Central came out to and early 5-0 lead over Long Island although they were not ready to give in and scored the next four goals straight to bring the game within one. As the fourth quarter progressed, the team eventually ended up tied when regulation expired. Central won the overtime face-off and after two shots, Thomas Grimm scored the game winning goal for Central. With four rounds played the Medal games have been set. Central and Long Island will face in the Gold Medal game and Western and Adirondack will face-off in the Bronze Medal Game.
Overall the performances today were broken into two halves. Long Island vs. Adirondack (12-4 Long Island) saw Adirondack leading 3-2 going into halftime before Long Island scored ten of the last eleven. Western vs. Central (12-4 Central) saw Western leading 3-2 going into halftime before Central scored ten of the last eleven goals. Thirdly, Long Island vs. Central (Central 8-7 OT) saw Central leading 4-0 at halftime before Long Island fought back to send the game into overtime.
Stand out performances from the second day of competitions once again feel to impressive face-off men and goalies. Jake Froccaro (Long Island) demonstrated himself to be the top of the face-off players in the tournament after winning 7/9 against Tim Edwards (Central). Froccaro won nine straight face-offs in the second half before being taken out of the game after a hard hit from a Central defenseman. Adirondack's goalie Bob Wardwell continued to impress and has recorded 43 saves (57&). Zach Oliveri is still sitting at the top of the goalie percentages with 62.5% (20 saves).
Offensively, Central's Kevin Rice remains the leading goals and points (12g-6a). Long Island's Kyle Keenan still holds the top spot in assists with seven. The ground ball chart is led by three Long Island players. Face-off man Froccaro leads with 29 followed by Brandon Gamblin (who is usually on the wing) with 15 and Michael Andreassi with 14.
| Hudson Valley 5 - New York City 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hudson Valley came out strong to win their first game of the tournament with a 5-2 victory over New York City. Valley scored all of their goals before NYC added the final two goals of the game (one in the third quarter and one in the fourth quarter). Rob Caffrey was a standout in the 
attack for the Valley. Caffrey, who had 2g-4a before this game added another 3g-1a to his tournament tally. Face-off men Ed Dedomenico and Kevin McNally combined for an 80% face-off draw win. Dedomenico finished 4/5 and McNally finished 2/3.
In the cage, Mike Grace and Cameron Stephens split time at the half for Hudson Valley. Grace held NYC scoreless in the opening half and accrued five saves in his shutout. Stephens also finished with five saves in the second half (71%). For NYC, Chris Fiore played the entire game and finished with eight saves (62%). Fiore and his close defense was the reason that NYC was still in the game until the third quarter. Fiore had five saves in the first quarter, and one in each following quarter.
The first goal of the contest was scored with 8:15 remaining in the first quarter when Caffrey scored unassisted with a drive from the top of the cage. Although the game started with ominous weather, it wasn't until around 7:00 that the rain really started to come down. It was sporadic but at times heavy. The artificial field was holding pockets of rain water on its surface causing many minor slips and two stops for minor injuries. Overall the game was sloppy in part due to the weather and in part to sloppy passing from both squads. The first quarter ended with the Hudson Valley leading 1-0. As was noted earlier, Fiore was the major factor in keeping the score so low early on in the game.
In the second quarter, Hudson Valley added their lone goal with 5:04 remaining in the quarter. Caffrey added his assist with a pass to Kiernan Donohue across the crease from the left wing. Donohue, a rising senior offensive player from Somers, picked up some nation attention at the Maverick Showtime last year and is one of four players from Somers on the Hudson Valley team. 
The third quarter is really when Hudson Valley broke out. Valley scored three unanswered goals to top out their five goal streak in the first 8:00 of the quarter. The first goal came at 4:19 when Briggs Barton drove from behind the cage after a dead ball to bring Valley up by three. Only 0:34 later Valley scored again when Matt McReddie controlled the loose ball and found Caffrey unguarded on the crease for the goal. At the 2:00 mark, Caffrey added his final goal of the game after receiving a feed from across the field from Kevin McNally. Valley led 5-0. With only 0:29 remaining in the third quarter, Neil Hamamoto broke the six quarter scoring draught for NYC with a drive from behind the cage. Hamamoto was trying to score all day and finished with four shots (three on cage). The third quarter ended with Hudson Valley leading 5-1.
In the fourth quarter Hudson Valley slowed down the pace when they were on offensive and NYC picked up their pace. NYC shot seven times in the fourth quarter with five shots being on cage. Valley's Stephens made four of his five saves in the final quarter to hold on to the lead. The final goal of the contest was scored with 0:22 remaining in the game when NYC's Mark Phillips scored during a fast-break.
Overall the game was a good match-up between three good goalies (two for Valley). The game was evenly matched and although NYC had trouble converting on some of their shots the game was a struggle back and forth. Hudson Valley won the ground ball battle 28-18. Leading the charge for Valley was TJ Foley with five ground balls. McNally and Michael Collins both added three ground balls to the count. NYC's ground balls were led by Fiore with four. Hamamoto and Will Nollmann each added two groundballs to the tally for NYC. 
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
| Long Island 12 - Adirondack 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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-- Long Island dominated the second half in their win over Adirondack, scoring ten of the final eleven goals. Long Island won 12-4 after trailing 3-2 at halftime. They scored four unanswered goals in the third quarter and then added six more (including the final five goals) in the 
fourth quarter. The game was a tale of two halves for both teams. In the first half Adirondack stepped up and played above their apparent skill level while Long Island appeared to play well below theirs. In the second half, Adirondack still performed admirably, but the Long Island team that everyone expected came out to win in the second half.
For Adirondack, goalie Bob Wardwell was stellar in the first half. Wardwell finished the first half with 12 saves and 2 goals against (86%) and full field clear that resulted in a goal for him. Wardwell kept his team excited and on the top of their game. In the second half, Wardwell finished with 3 saves and 10 goals against (23%). Long Island had a number of standout players with eleven players making the scorebook and all but two finishing the game with at least one statistic. Face-off man Jake Froccaro finished at 63% (12/19); however of his seven losses, six were technical losses. Additionally, as it was in the earlier games, Froccaro seemed to have trouble earlier on with face-off draws. He was 3/6 in his first six attempts at the face-off bur he also stood out on the offensive side of the field leading in scoring with 2g-1a. Michael Andreassi also led in scoring with 3a.
Goalie Tom Cordts finished with seven saves for Long Island (64%). Cordts from Northport has been named First Team All County goalie twice and prior to this game carried a 53% save percentage in the tournament. Froccaro also led his team in ground balls with eight. Attackman Andreassi added five and Brandon Gamblin added four to the Long Island tally. For Adirondack, Tim Coll, Tristan Sperry and Wardwell each added two ground balls to the count.
Long Island came out early with the first goal of the game only 1:28 into play when Kevin Wendell scored off a pass from Michael Andreassi. Andreassi found Wendell open on the high crease for the next goal. With 2:00 remaining in the quarter, Adirondack called a time-out to regroup. After the time out, Tristian Sperry drove from around back of the crease to tie the game at 1-1 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Adirondack kept Long Island from scoring until late in the quarter. With 7:30 remaining in the quarter, Adirondack gets assessed a penalty and Long Island goes man-up. The man-down defense for Adirondack kept up the pressure and held them scoreless. With 4:59 remaining in the first half, Wardwell scored his goal with a full field clear. His goal put Adirondack into the lead for the first of two times. Two minutes after Wardwell's goal Long Island scores. Michael Andreassi had his second of three assists with a feed from behind the cage to Mike Sagl. Sagl finished into the back of the net with a behind the back shot. Adirondack grabbed their second lead of the game with an outside side-arm shot from Tim Cox. Adirondack led 3-2 at halftime.
During halftime, Long Island stopped taking the game lightly and went to town scoring five unanswered goals, followed by one Adirondack goal and then followed by five more Long Island goals. Long Island played the second half like a team with a mission to win. They tied the game only 0:08 into the third quarter with a face-off fast-break goal by Pannell with an assist from Froccaro. Keenan passed the ball inside to Wendell for the go-ahead goal from Long Island. Long Island kept up the pressure for the duration of the game. The lone Adirondack goal yet to be scored was added at 5:30 in the fourth quarter. Tim Coll fed the crease and found Alex D'Amario open for the goal.
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
| Central 12 - Western 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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-- Central defeated Western 12-4 after dominating in the second half. Western led 3-2 after the first half but Central scored ten of the last eleven goals. Although the game was significantly closer in the first half, Central demonstrated why they are the only remaining undefeated team with their strong win over Western.
For Central, midfielder Joe Corapi (3g) was a major influence as well attackman Kevin Rice (5g). Rice is the leading point producer in the tournament after four games. Additionally, Tim Edwards finished at 64% at the face-off and Tyler White finished at 64% between the pipes (seven saves). Defenseman Austin Curtis led Central in ground balls with three and also added a goal with his long stick. For Western, Nick Doktor had 1g-1a. In the cage, David Scarcello finished with one save.
The first quarter began with a goal from Central face-off man and senior midfielder from Ithaca Riley Lasda. He scored with a sweep from the top center to the right wing with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter. Only 1:30 later Central added their second goal when Dylan Donahue drove from behind the cage and scored as he fell down near the crease. Central led 2-0. Western scored their opening goal after a shot from Drew Hayes' is saved but not controlled by White. Doktor scoops up the loose ball and finds Zach Reed open on the crease. Western tied the score with a drive from behind by Churchville-Chili senior Ryan Yunker. The first quarter ended in a 2-2 tie.
In the second quarter Western came out and scored the only goal of the quarter when long-stick Brian Sullivan picked up the ball near the midfield line and ran in down the field. Sullivan found DeJoe open across the crease during the fast-break and DeJoe put the ball into the back of the net. Western played aggressive defense in the first half, holding the ball so that Central's possession time was limited. Central was held to only one shot in the second quarter and only six shots in the entire first half.
The third and fourth quarters were all Central. They added ten goals with scoring from Joe Corapi, Rice, Edwards and Curtis. Doktor also added his second goal with 5:44 remaining in the game.
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
| Adirondack 10 - New York City 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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-- Adirondack defeated New York City 10-3 in the first game of the fourth round of round robin play this afternoon. Adirondack scored eight straight unanswered goals spanning the first three quarters. Although NYC started off close, they could not keep pace with Adirondack. Adirondack had standout performances from goalie Bob Wardwell, attackman Tim Coll, and midfielder Brian Schlansker. Coll finished with 2g-3a, Schlansker ended with 2g, in the goal Wardwell finished with 9 saves (75%). For NYC attackman Neil Hama
moto led with 2g. Adirondack controlled the entire game and is 2-2 after four rounds of play.
In the first quarter Adirondack opened the scoring with a cross crease pass from Coll to Tim Cox. NYC responded with a feed to Mark Phillips by Dylan Fowler from behind the cage. Adirondack added two more goals before they ended the quarter. The first was a drive from the restraining line by Coll. The second was a drive from the top by Schlansker. The first quarter ended with the score 3-1 Adirondack.
Adirondack continued their unanswered scoring streak in the second quarter, adding four goals while holding NYC at bay. Adirondack's Coll and Troy Gargiulo both scored with an unassisted drive. During a man up, Schlansker had a cross crease feed from Coll to score. The final goal of the quarter occurred when Liam Christensen fed Chris Breiner the assist on a fast break. The first half ended with the score 7-1 Adirondack.
Adirondack continued their unanswered goal streak with two more goals in the third quarter. 1:19 into the third quarter Adirondack scored their first goal when Alex D'Amario received a pass from Coll. Six minutes later Adirondack added their 9th goal with a drive from behind by Samuel Thompson. With 1 second left in the quarter, NYC's Hamamoto scored with an assist from Hugo Francis. The quarter ended 9-2 Adirondack.
In the fourth quarter each team added one goal. Adirondack scored first with Tristan Sperry driving from behind after a dead ball whistle. With 29 seconds remaining Hamamoto scored his second goal in the game with a behind the back shot on the crease.
Overall, Adirondack looked strong and led in most statistical fields. Adirondack led in shots 32-22, shots on 18-12 but trailed in ground balls 23-18, trailed in takes 4-2 and had more penalties 3-1. Lead the ground ball charge for Adirondack was Wardwell with four ground balls. Cam Fisher added three ground balls for Adirondack. For New York City Hamamoto led with four ground balls. Will Otremba, Joseph Madrazo and Nader Sharif-Emami each added three ground balls to the tally.
In the cage for New York City, Chris Fiore and James Superka split halves. Fiore started in the cage and finished with five saves. Superka played the second half and recorded four saves. At the face-off draw for NYC, Madrazo finished 8/15 (53%) at the draw. With their win and Western's win in the second game of round four, Adirondack is locked into the Bronze game against Western on Sunday morning at 9:00.
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
| Western 10 - Hudson Valley 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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-- Western defeated Hudson Valley after a strong showing in the third quarter. Although Hudson Valley tried to make a late comeback, Western won 10-7. Western controlled the ball for the final three minutes to keep Hudson Valley from scoring. They scored the first two goals unanswered in the first quarter.
Zach Reed assisted the opening goal to Nick Doktor just 0:08 into the contest. Reed finished the game with two assists. The second goal was scored by JT Hauck with a drive down the left side of the field. Western led 2-0 after the first quarter. Western held Hudson Valley to only two shots in the first quarter (neither of which were on cage).
In the second quarter, Valley started shooting more. Valley had six shots in the second quarter with three on cage. Western added their third in the second quarter as well. Jordan Frysinger fed the ball to the top of the crease where Ryan Yunker fired into the back of the net. The first half ended with Hudson Valley trailing in ground balls 35-7, shots 24-8 and penalties 1-0. Although the score was close, Western was clearly the stronger team for the first there quarters. At halftime, Western led 3-1.
In the third quarter, Western finished with 17 shots and Valley finished with five shots. Valley scored two goals of the three shots on cage. The first goal was scored by TJ Foley after he picked up a loose ball at the face-off and ran in straight down for the goal 0:11 into the quarter. Western responded to the second Hudson Valley goal with three goals in 0:35 seconds (and two goals in 0:05 seconds). Hudson Valley scored the first goal of the quarter only 0:21 into the quarter when TJ Foley picked up the ground ball from the face-off and ran it all the way down to the goal. Western's goal came four minutes later with Ryan Yunker passing the ball to Derek DeJoe for the goal. 
Klay Heston and Mike Messina hooked up on the next goal. Heston and Messina are both from Aquinas Institute in Rochester. Messina won the face-off and looked up the field to Heston for the fast-break goal. Western kept up the pressure with a goal from Reed. The senior from Haverling-Haverling scored when he picked up a loose ball and started running up field on a fast-break. He found Heston open for his second goal in under a minute. Western led 6-2.
Hudson Valley scored when midfielder Ed Dedomenico found Kiernan Donohue standing on the crease open. Donohue faked high but shot low for the Valley goal. With 1:19 remaining Jordan Frysinger swept right and fired a hard shot to increase the Western lead. The final Western goal of the quarter was scored with zero time left on the clock. JT Hauck passed the ball across a high crease to James Burke who buried the ball in to the back of the net and increased Western's lead to five goals. The third quarter ended 8-3 in favor of Western.
Hudson Valley attempted to make a comeback in the fourth quarter but Western was too much for them to overcome. Western scored the first goal of the quarter to increase their lead to six. Frysinger scored only 0:12 into the quarter. Picking up the loose ball on the face-off he ran straight to the goal. Valley scored the next goal with an outside shot from Barton. With 8:03 remaining, Hudson Valley had their goalie out of the cage trying to double the ball but the gamble backfired and DeJoe scored on an open net. Valley scored when, during a clear, Barton found Matt McReddie open for the goal. Valley added the final two goals of the contest with goals from Barton and Chris Bonaventura.
In the cage, Hudson Valley split goalies at halftime with Cameron Stephens starting the game and finished with nine saves (75%) and Mike Grace finishing the game with five saves. For Western, Alex Govenettio played the entire game and recorded five saves.
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
| Central 8 - Long Island 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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-- Central walked into their 8:00 PM contest against Long Island with a game plan in mind. The game plan held Long Island scoreless for 23 minutes spanning three quarters. In the meantime, Central had added five goals. Although Central executed their game plan nearly perfectly, Long Island still fought back in the second half and forced the game into overtime.
Long Island dominated the face-off in the second half, until the injury to Jake Froccaro. He maintained his pattern of having difficulties early in the game and shining in the second half. Froccaro finished 10/14 (71%) but won nine straight face-offs in the second half until he was injured after a hard hit from a Central player. Once he left the face-off draw, Long Island only won one of the remaining three including the overtime face-off that was won by Central. Central's Tim Edwards (who had a higher winning percentage then Froccaro before the Long Island game) finished 4/11. Edwards and Froccaro matched up nine times with Edwards winning the first two and Froccaro winning the nine seven. Central's Riley Lasda also took face-off draws and finished 3/7; however, Lasda won the overtime face-off to give Central the only possession in sudden victory.
Goalie Tyler White was a major player for Central in their win. White played the entire game (42 minutes) and finished with 11 saves (61%). For Long Island, Zach Oliveri played the entire game and finished with ten saves (56%).
Central's plan demonstrated itself in the first half of play. Central was patient and took significant chunks of time waiting for their opportunities to score and keeping the ball away from Long Island. Long Island only controlled the ball on three occasions in the first quarter and combined for less than 90 seconds. Central spent the entire first quarter waiting for the right shots to show themselves. Central took nine shots in the first quarter while holding Long Island to only two shots (both were rushed). Central only hit the cage three times (one resulting in a goal). The only goal of the first quarter was scored with an inside dodge by Joe Corapi. Central controlled both the opening face-off as well as the face-off after the goal and gave Long Island almost no time with the ball.
Central's plan to slow the pace and keep the ball away from Long Island continued in the second quarter. Although Long Island had more opportunities with the ball they only took five shots (8 for Central) and only two were on cage (seven on cage for Central). Central was patient when they controlled the ball and Long Island was impatient looking for any opportunity to shoot and missing the cage with sidearm shots more than hitting the cage. For Central, three goals were added to their tally; included in the count is an extra-man goal. The second Central goal was scored by Alex Ha tem on the crease with a feed from Nick Piroti. Four minutes later and long-stick defenseman Austin Curtis scored. Curtis took the ball all the way down the field and as he approached the goal was challenged by a Long Island defenseman. Curtis spun around to dodge the incoming defenseman and finished his shot into the back o the net. The final Central goal was scored by leading tournament points scorer Kevin Rice with a feed from outside by Connor Ferrito. Central had for all intents and purposes stopped the powerhouse Long Island offense in its tracks.
Long Island came out of halftime a new team; which was become a pattern for them after their early game against Adirondack. Long Island won the opening face-off (Froccaro's first) and went down the field in a fast-break formation; however, James Pannell missed the shot. Central got control of the ball and brought it down to their offensive end. Lasda ran a sweep from the top and pulled his 
defenseman out of position. As the defenseman over-extended himself, Lasda turned back on his heal and had an open ally straight to the goal. This was the last Central goal until the fourth quarter. Long Island finally scored their first goal with 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. The play was a convoluted series of events that happened within 10 seconds and resulted in the first Long Island goal. The series began with a save by White (Central) after a shot by Pannell. After the save, White could not control the loose ball and Myles Jones (LI) picked up the loose ball and fired at the net. His shot went wide, but was stopped and recovered by Keenan behind the cage. Central's Gerry O'Brien striped the ball and looked to clear it; however Keenan had other thoughts. Keenan took his ball back and finds Gamblin open in front of the goal. Since a clear was in progress, White was out of the crease. Just as White returned, Gamblin fired and scored for Long Island.
Long Island continued their pressure scoring during another broken clear. They started with the loose ball in their offensive side of the field, which was picked up by Andreassi. Andreassi drove straight to the crease and bounced the shot into the back of the net. Long Island scored again only 3:20 later. After a dead ball, Jones drove from behind the cage and found Mike Sagl on the crease. Sagl finished the shot behind his back for the goal. Pannell scored the fourth Long Island goal to bring them within one goal. The second quarter ended with Central holding on to a one goal lead.
The first five minutes of the fourth quarter went back and forth with no significant advantage. Finally with 5:03 remaining in the fourth quarter Rice made a move to the goal from behind and increased the Central lead to two goals. Just 0:06 later, Long Island scored on a face-off fast-break after Froccaro picked up his own ground ball and fed Pannell. Pannell, instead of shooting, looked up and saw Andreissi who finished with the goal. Central came back with another goal thirty seconds later when face-off man Edwards intercepted the pass after Long Island wins the face-off. Edwards ran from the midfield line all the way to the crease for the goal. Central continued their two goal lead. Long Island brings the game within one once again with a hard outside shot from Wendell. Long Island tied the game with 3:10 remaining. They started with a dead ball behind their cage and Pannell drove to the right side of the goal and sneaks a shot into the upper corner to tie the game.
With time nearly running out in regulation, Central had another opportunity to cement their win. Dylan Donahue made a solid shot but, Zach Oliveri made a spectacular save to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Central won the face-off and took two shots (the first missed and the second scored the winning goal). Senior Thomas Grimm of Carthage who a member of the 2008 Empire State games for Central has a made a commitment to attend Syracuse for College.
With four rounds of game already completed, the Medal games are locked. Central and Long Island will face each other again in the Gold Medal game. Western and Adirondack with fight for the Bronze Medal.
For a more complete look check out the full statistics.
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McQuaid vs Liverpool NNYS Semi -
Newark at Pal-Mac
