- First Posted: 2011-05-29
- Updated: 2018-10-02 17:12:20
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Championship Day - Tuesday
The 2011 Boys Lacrosse Championship Day, sponsored by the Canandaigua National Bank, will see the top two seeds in each class battling it out on the campus of St. John Fisher College in Pittsford.
Starting off the day will be the Class C finals which features the top seeded Mustangs of Penn Yan against the number two seeded Rams from Haverling-Haverling. The game will start at 3:30. The second game features returning champions, Irondequoit and first timers, Churchville-Chili at 5:30. The day concludes with Pittsford and Fairport in the Class A finals starting about 7:30 PM.
Penn Yan vs Haverling - 3:30 PM
The Mustangs have had an amazing sectional history, winning their first championship in 1987 when they represented Section Five in the first Class B NYS tournament. They went on the next year to represent the section as the only Class B in the section. They won in Class B again 1996 and after a year off started a remarkable streak of wins from 1998 to 2009. In 2000 NYS started a Class C tournament and Penn Yan won every year until they were defeated last year by Aquinas.
Penn Yan (15-3) left the Finger Lakes League in 2010, when the league limited their teams to just two out of league games. This year, however, the Mustangs made sure their schedule included traditional rivals, Canandaigua who they beat 10-4 and Geneva who they beat 11-1. They also won games against Brighton (10-2) and Thomas (8-7 ot).
Two of their three losses were to out of section, highly ranked teams. They lost to Carthage (Section 3), 15-9, back in April and to Clarence (Section 6), 7-6, in early May. Clarence (15-2) is the number two seed in the Class A tournament in Buffalo and will play for their championship against Orchard Park on Wednesday. Carthage, the number two seed in Syracuse, lost in their championship game to Jamesville-DeWitt yesterday. The Mustang's third loss was to Fairport, 9-8, back in April.
Haverling-Haverling (14-2) lost to the Mustangs in mid-April, 19-3, but has improved greatly through the season. The GRALL Champions at 4-1, the Rams had a less strenuous schedule with notable wins against Aquinas (twice) and Geneva in the semi finals.
Whereas the Mustangs offense has a large number of contributors, the Rams' offense is focused around Zach Reed (47g-60a), recently named a US Lacrosse All-American and Nick Rossi (47g-28a). Penn Yan's leading scorer is Dylan Yonts (49g-40a), but there are five others with over thirty points this season, including seniors Anthony Luppino (21g-11a), James Voigt (24g-14a) and Ryan Maciejewski (28g-24a).
On the defensive end of the field, Penn Yan has allowed 83 goals against (4.6 per game) behind their starting goalie, freshman Brandon Maciejewski (62%). Haverling has allowed 112 goals against (7.0 per game) with starting junior goalie, Andrew Clark (61%).
There is no doubt that Penn Yan is on a mission to take back the crown, but this is the first shot for Haverling and they will be anxious to make the most of it.
Irondequoit vs Churchville-Chili - 5:30 PM
Last year the Eagles had a dramatic performance in the Class B tournament, starting as the fifth seeded team and beating Webster Thomas in the finals, 16-3. This year, they are the top seed going into the finals with a 15-3 record with their only losses to Pittsford (13-11), Duxbury (10-7) and Penfield (8-7). Their last loss was on May 3rd and they have won nine in a row, including a 10-7 win over Fairport, since then. An early season win against Section 4 standout, Ithaca (13-10) proved that this year's Eagles were loaded.
Despite injuries to All-American Greg Coholan during the middle of their season, the Eagles continued to win behind the efforts of Nick Doktor, a junior who was also recently named to the US Lacrosse All-American list. Doktor (36g-32a) along with Emmy Poccia (39g-4a) and Max Kostyk (28g-20a) led a team-oriented offense that produced 201 goals (11.2 per game). The Eagles defense has allowed 104 goals against (5.8 per game) with starting goalie, junior Eric Fischer making 124 saves (58%) this year.
Churchville-Chili is excited about reaching the finals. The Saints (15-3) have only had a varsity team for seven years. Their Monroe County D-2 schedule was supplemented with wins against Webster Schroeder (10-9) and Brighton (14-12). They split wins with Aquinas and their semi final win against Brighton (11-9) was a high point. Their three losses included Webster Thomas (10-7), Aquinas, and an early season 12-7 loss to Irondequoit.
The Saints are celebrating their first All-American in Ryan Yunker (55g-25a). Freshman attackman, Trevor Hodgins (30g-28a) is an exciting player who works well with juniors Jeff Gurbacki (27g-11a), Nick Gray (22g-12a) and Pat Bonafede (19g-13a) along with senior middie Taylor Kolmer (19g-7a). Junior goalie Jack Corcoran has made 122 saves (50%).
Certainly, the Eagles look like the front-runner in this game, but they must not loose focus, because the Saints can produce.
Pittsford vs Fairport - 7:30 PM
There were plenty of Class A games played this year, but lacrosse watchers back in March were predicting this final match up. The top seeded Pittsford Panthers (18-0) are one of only four undefeated teams in New York State at this point. They reached the finals after a thrilling overtime semifinal win against Webster Thomas on Friday. The Panthers' big wins this year included Irondequoit (13-11) and Orchard Park of Section 6 (4-2). The Quakers will be playing for their Class A championship against Clarence on June 1st.
The Panther offense has lots of stars. In fact, six players have score over 30 points this year. US Lacrosse Academic All-American, James Burke (30g-15a) is a key face off man for the Panthers. Senior midfielder Matt Gold (19g-18a) who scored the overtime goal in the semifinals, works well with Corey Parke (31g-8a) and attackmen Alex Kober (26g-9a), Jack Lauroesch (20g-16a) and Albie DiPasquale (23g-9a). The offense has scored 201 goals (11.2 per game), half of which were assisted.
The Pittsford defense which included junior defenseman Kevin Sanna, plays well together and adjusts well to changes in offense. Senior goalie Conor Quinn has made 119 saves (65%).
Fairport (14-4), had two of it's losses against strong out of section teams. They lost to Jamesville-DeWitt (8-4) who just won the class B championship in Section three yesterday and they lost (9-4) to Ithaca of Section four who just won the Class A tournament against the new combined team from Corning. They had wins against Canandaigua (11-2), Thomas (12-9), Penn Yan (9-8) and Penfield (7-6).
The Red Raiders have twenty-two players on their offensive book. They have scored 203 goals (61% assisted) and average 11.3 per game. Senior attackman, Stephen Danylyshyn is the scoring leader with (37g-15a). Senior All-American Drew Hays is the assist leader with 26g-31a and other offensive leaders include Derek DeJoe (32g-11a), James Manilla (27g-22a) and Brian Martin (28g-8a). Junior goalie Blaze Riorden is a dynamic goalie with 130 saves (64%) and is not afraid to move up field where he has recorded two assists this year.
In the regular season meeting, Pittsford won, 9-4, but this season has been punctuated with surprise wins in big games. Pittsford may enter the game with an edge, but Fairport is a well coached team that is capable of a win in the last sectional game of 2011.
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