Victor Falls to Garden City
June 9, 2018 - Garden City returned to the State Finals for the first time since 2013 when they won the title game over Jamesville-Dewitt 13-8. Today they defeated the three-time defending State Champion Victor Blue Devils. The Trojans came to win and took and early 3-1 lead that they never quite gave back. The first and fourth quarters were a flurry of activity while the middle two quarters showed a lot of testing from both teams. The Trojans were led in offensive by junior James Basile (3g) and Liam Muldoon (2g-1a). Basile’s final goal was the winning goal that was scored with 0:01 remaining on the clock.
The Class B Tournament Most Valuable Player Award was given to face-off midfielder Justin Coppola. Coppola finished the game at 11/14 (78%) with a team leading six ground balls. He was demonstrative for his team and was a key factor in the Trojan victory. The Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award was given to defensive midfielder senior Tyler Wuchte. Both teams demonstrated the skill that one expects in the State Tournament with the difference coming down to possession time. Coppola’s play was a key factor in giving the Trojans the possession time that made the difference.
Victor opened up the scoring 0:54 into the game. Joey Pezzimenti scored off an inside feed from Mitchell Cain. Pezzimenti (1g-2a) grabbed the feed and turned into the shot for the goal. The Trojans responded with three unanswered goals to take the early lead. Cole Dutton scored the first goal with a drive from the top. Just over a minute later, they scored again with Muldoon scoring off a feed from Gavin Pappas. The third goal was scored on a face-off fast-break. Long stick Colin Hart grabbed the ball off the wing line before passing into Danny Boccafola who fed to Basile. Victor’s second goal was scored with 6:15 with a feed from behind by Pezzimenti to Connor Keenan. Keenan finished with 3g and joined Pezzimenti leading in points with 3. Garden City wasted no time in adding their fourth goal. Basile scored his second goal with a drive from behind the cage. The Blue Devils finished out the first quarter scoring with a feed from behind by Sam Lambert to Keenan with 0:01 remaining on the clock. Over half the scoring for the game happened in the first quarter.
The second quarter was a lot of back and forth without any scoring. Both teams testing the opposing defense without making much progress. Both goalies recorded a single save in the second quarter. Senior Chayse Ierlan finished with 6 saves for Victor and senior Edward “Teddy” Dolan finished at 4 saves for Garden City. The third quarter was similar to the second with each team adding a single goal. Garden City scored first at 6:22, Muldoon scored on the crease off a feed from Dutton. The Blue Devil goal was a single dodge along the left goal line from Camden Hay. Garden City held on to a 5-4 lead going into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, both teams added two goals. Garden City scored first to increase their lead to 2. Joe Scattareggia scored coming out of a time-out. He started with the ball near the midfield and drove straight at the goal to score. Garden City began to slow down the play and looked in control of the game. Over the first 11 minutes they took significant chunks off the clock and denied Victor a offensive opportunity. The first Blue Devil shot of the quarter did not happen until 1:48 (missed the cage). The final minute of play was full of excitement. Victor scored their first goal of the quarter with 0:59 remaining on the clock. On a dead ball at midfield, Victor quick pushed up to the goal. Hay drove from the top right corner to the bottom left before turning back and finding Keenan across the cage. Garden City won the draw, but stepped into the box and lost possession on an in-and-out. Victor cleared up the field and called a timeout. They moved around for thirty seconds before took an outside shot to score. Russell scored the tying goal off a feed from Pezzimenti. The game was tied 6-6 with only 0:08 left on the clock. Coppola won the draw, sent the ball upfield to Muldoon on the right side. He crossed the pass to Basile who was open with time to shoot. The Trojans goal was scored with 0:01.8 remaining on the clock. The last face-off was a stall and Garden City held off for the win.
