Victor Wins in Overtime
May 30, 2018 - Alexander Mabbett scored off a feed from Joey Pezzimenti 1:59 into the second overtime period to give Victor the 10-9 win over Webster Thomas. This is the fifth consecutive win for the Blue Devils. Victor started off the game strong and took an early 5-2 in the second quarter. They continued to put up points and increased their lead to 7-3 with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter. After that Thomas put on the back-burners. They scored four straight goals before Victor added their 8th. The Titans continued to push all the way through the fourth and into the two overtime periods. Both teams had shots at the cage in overtime and it was edge of your seat lacrosse for both periods.
In the first half, both teams scored two goals. Victor struck first with Connor Keenan scoring off a feed from behind by Sam Lambert. Lambert was named Class B All Tournament MVP. Two minutes later, Thomas got on the board with an unassisted goal from Colin Horan. Horan came off a dead ball time out and drive straight from the top down the left side. The Blue Devils responded with another goal. This time, Andrew Russell scored off another drive from the top. The final first quarter goal was scored by Trevor Ford with a single player dodge from the left goal line. Ford was named to the All Tournament Team. In addition, he was awarded the 2018 Offensive Player of the Year for the entire season at the conclusion of tonight’s contest. The first quarter ended with the score tied at 2-2.
In the second quarter, Victor came out swinging and scored three unanswered goals to start the quarter. Joe Pezzimenti scored with a drive along the right goal line with 11:15 remaining. Less than a minute later, Connor Keenan scored with an outside shot from the top. The third Blue Devil goal was scored straight off the face-off only 10 seconds later. The fast-break goal was scored by Alex Hernandez off a feed from Camden Hay. Hay finished the game with 1g-1a a pair of defensive takes and was named to the All Tournament Team. Webster Thomas added the final goal of the half with 7:02 remaining. The play began off a fast-break where the ball was worked quickly behind the cage to Jacob Allen. Allen re-routed the ball to the near side and found Matt Hill open on the crease. Victor led 5-3 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Victor kept up their offense and added the first two goals of the quarter. Tucker Hill scored the first goal off a face-off fast-break only 8 seconds into the quarter. Two minutes later, Anthony Pezzimenti fed the crease and instead the ball sailed into the back of the net. Victor’s largest margin was 7-3 with 9:50 remaining. Webster Thomas finished out the quarter with back to back goals. The first was scored by Nick Mabe and assisted by Horan. Mabe was a major part of the Thomas attempted comeback and was named to the All Tournament Team for the Titans. The second Titan goal with a drive from the right side by Spencer Nuccitelli. Victor held the two goal lead 7-5 after three quarter.
In the final quarter, Thomas outscored Victor 4-2. The Titans scored four of the first five and took the lead with 3:31 remaining on the clock. Their momentum switch in the final quarter put Victor on notice and forced the defending Champions to score to force overtime. Thomas’ first goal was 0:34 into the quarter with Matt Hill scoring off a feed from Ford. He scored from the left side with a shot along the close pipe. Hill finished with 2g-1a and was named to the Team. Horan scored his second goal less than a minute later with a drive to the same spot Hill shot from and a finish to the same inside pipe. The game was tied for the third time in the game at 7-7. Victor broke the four goal streak by the Titans with Hay scoring on a back to front feed from Lambert. The Titans continued to persevere and scored two more to take their first lead of the game with only 3:31 remaining. Both goals were scored on midrange shots from Mabe. The assists came from Hill and Allen. The final goal of regulation play was scored with 1:43 remaining. Mabbett scored the first of his two goals off a feed from behind the cage by Pezzimenti. Both teams had late chances in the final two minutes, but neither could win in regulation.
The first overtime period came and Webster won the opening draw with a use of their timeout. Webster brought the ball upfield and attempted to score. They could not get a shot on cage and Victor took over the offense at 1:46. They cleared the ball and called their own timeout at 1:35 just over midfield. The Blue Devils attempted their own offensive plays and also could not put a shot on the cage.
The second overtime period came and Victor won the face-off with a use of timeout. They took the ball down field and Mabbett took a hard drive down from the top. He fired a well placed shot to the bottom left. Thomas goalie Ethan Ruller (a freshman), showed skill level and calm beyond his years. He made a tough save to keep his team in the game. Ruller finished the game with 9 saves and was critical in keeping his team in the game. The Titans brought the ball upfield and took their own shot. All Tournament Team member Chayse Ierlan came up with his own save to keep the game going. Ierlan finished with 10 saves. In addition to his All Tournament honors, after the game he was named the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year for the entire season. Victor brought the ball upfield for another attempt at offensive. The game winning goal came at 1:59 with Pezzimenti assisting Mabbett.
Additional awards at the end of the game included, All Tournament Team selections from Schroeder (AJ Florio) and McQuaid Jesuit (James Merkley). The third 2018 season honor was the Sportman of the Year and it was awarded to Corey Yunker of Churchville-Chili.
The Blue Devils move on to the State Tournament for the fifth straight year and defend their three straight State Titles. They will face the winner of Section Six on Saturday at June 2nd at All High Stadium.
