The New York State semi-finals are up next on Wednesday, June 5th at various places around the state.

Fairport vs Baldwinsville

Baldwinsville (Baker) went right to work, scoring seven unanswered goals against Corning-Painted Post on Saturday, and then slowed down to cruise to a 12-4 win at Corning in the State Regionals. Austin Bolton (48g-24a) led the offense with 3g-2a, but Braden McCard was right behind with 2g-2a. Senior goalie Daniel Stehle, who averages 63% this season, had an important fourteen saves (78%). The Bees are currently at 13-3, with losses to Victor, F-M, Liverpool, but they have won the last twelve games including three games against West Genesee and a 7-4 win against Webster Thomas. Spencer Wirtheim is the currently offensive leader with 43g-58a. He had 2g on Saturday but had recorded five points or more in eleven games this season.

Fairport enters the game at 17-2, having won their last nine games. Klay Stuver lead the offense in both goals and points with 46g-14a with Colin Peers just behind with 34g-22a. Four others have over twenty points and there are only two seniors on the offensive stat board. Junior goalie, Tim Defendis has a 59% average this season and has come on strong in the last have of the schedule, where he most of his games has seen save averages over 66%, including Saturday's game where he posted twelve saves (92%) against Orchard Park.

The teams have not played each other in the last sixteen years and although the Red Raiders are a young team this year, if they can control the high scoring Bees, it should be a fun game to watch at Fisher.

The game will be played at St. John Fisher College on Wednesday at 4:00 PM. Admission, good for both games. is $8.00.

Victor vs Fayetteville/Onondaga

The Golden Bears punched their ticket to the final four with a 9-7 win over Fayetteville-Manlius (Section III) on Saturday. The teams played a very close first half with both teams scoring three goals in the first and two in the second to post a 5-5 half. Vestal came out strong in the third scoring three unanswered goals in the third which made the difference. The Golden Bears were led by Jared Butler, Nick Freeman, Matt Thrasher and Aaron Tebo who each scored two goals.

Vestal enters the game at 13-5 with losses to Baldwinsville, Glastonbury (CT), Chenango Forks, Corning, and Liverpool.

After a close game with Canandaigua for the Sectional Championship, Victor played another close game with Hamburg on Saturday, coming alive in the last quarter with five goals to post an 8-4 win. Junior attackman Joey Pezzimenti led the scoring with 3g-a1 and leads the team in goal production with 49g-30a. Junior attackman Camden Hay leads in assists and points with 35g-47a but four others have more than twenty points this season. Scoring can come from many directions as nineteen players have made the offensive book this year. In the defense, Sutton Boland who is scheduled to move on to Penn State next fall was recently named a US Lacrosse All-American. He leads a strong defense that included Ben Yacavonis who leads the team in takes and senior goalie Liam Haller who has a 60% average but has been over 70% in the last two games. Rounding out the talent is junior face off man, Regan Endres who had won 232 draws this season (79%).

Both teams lost to Corning during the season (Vestal 8-17) and Victor (5-9). Victor defeated Baldwinsville 9-7 and Vestal lost 12-9 and Victor beat F-M 13-4 while The Golden Bears won 9-7. Victor played Hamburg on the day after their senior ball, and without that distraction, they should start playing at the start of the game rather than waiting to the end. This is their fifth semifinal appearance in a row and the Blue Devils remember how they felt about losing last year's championship game, so they will be motivated.

The game will be played at St. John Fisher College on Wednesday at 4:00 PM. Admission, good for both games. is $8.00.

Penn Yan vs Chenango Forks

LaFayette/Onondaga played a controlled but close game against Chenango Forks (Section IV) on Saturday. Scoring consistently paced goals which gave the Lancers a 6-3 halftime score, the Blue Devils came within one by the end of the third quarter before LaFayette finished with the 14-12 victory. Leading the offensive book was senior Reid Jackowski, a three-sport athlete who has 49g-28a in the season and scored 3g-3a in the win. Junior Dylan Lyons added five goals and has 49g-20a this season.

LaFayette/Onondaga has six players who have scored over forty points this season. Junior goalie Colin Dix has 203 saves this season (49%) but has had a couple of games toward the end of the season with 75% (against Skaneateles) and 89% (against Marcellus). He was just under 50% on Saturday.

The Lancers (11-7) lost to CNS, Homer, Westhill and CBA and interestingly, beat Skaneateles, Marcellus and Chenango Forks in the post-season but lost to them during the regular season. When they win, they tend to win big. With only one exception they had no less than 13 goals. Even among losing games, there were only two games where they were held under 10 goals per games. With a massive 280 goals scored this season they average 14.7 goals per game.

Penn Yan arrives at his game with a record of 14-6 and won their trip to the final four with an 8-5 win against Eden (Section VI). The Mustangs came back after a four-goal deficit with Colton Smith scoring 4g-1a and Conner Fingar adding 3g. Fingar, who leads the team in goals and points with 44g-26a was recently named a US Lacrosse All-American. Devon Gerhardt leads the team in assists with 20g-37a and Smith has 41g-17a. Sophomore attackman Ayden Mowry has 27g-21a and several others have over twenty points. Junior goalie has had most of the time in the goal and weighs in with 95 saves (65%). Freshman goalie Griffin Emerson has had a good among of time in the cage and has an average of 63%.

The teams have met eight times since 2003 and LaFayette has won all but one. The most recent meeting, however, was ten years ago and the Mustangs have grown quite a bit in those ten years. Ball-time will be critical in this game as both teams are able to score.

The game will be played at Cicero-North Syracuse on Wednesday at 6:30 PM. Admission, good for both games. is $8.00.

 
Other Upstate Games

Also at Cicero-North Syracuse on Wednesday, the Class C semi final which will see East Aurora (Section 6) will play Jamesville-DeWitt (Section 3) at 4:00 PM.

Down State Games

Class A: Mamaroneck (Section 1) will play Massapequa (Section 8) at 4:00 PM.
Class B: John Jay (Section 1) will play Manhasset (Section 8) at 6:30 PM
Class C: Rye (Section 1) will play Shoreham-Warding River (Section 11) at 4:00 PM
Class D: Briarcliff (Section 1) will play Mattituck (section 11) at 6:30 PM.