Eleven Games - Only One Close One
March 28, 2009 - There were eleven games on an unusually beautiful March game day. Pittsford won a 6-5 game against Churchville-Chili, and Irondequoit won an 11-6 victory over Penfield, but the rest of the games were lopsided victories and six went into running time.
-- Aquinas hosted the first game of a daylong event at the Aquinas Institute, Wegman Field today, defeating St. Francis 10-3. St. Francis (Section VI) plays in the Catholic league in Buffalo. The Little Irish took control early and never let up; playing the type of lacrosse that 
Coach Jerry Dawes expected to see. "This is the team that I saw in the preseason." The big star of the game was Aquinas' junior attackman Austin Gorman, who finished with 4g-3a.
Overall, Aquinas ran most of their offense from the attack as they saw 7g-5a scored by attackmen. Adding to the score was junior midfielder Anthony Bianchi, who finished the game with 2g-1a. Bianchi's two goals were the first two goals of the game and both came from assists by Gorman. The first two plays set the pace for the match. Gorman, drove from the back right and after a slide from St. Francis, hit Bianchi across the crease for a wide open shot. St. Francis goalie Jon Lawless was helpless during a number of the quick pass goals but still posted a respectable 15 saves (60%). Lawless is a two time member of the Empire State Games team.
St. Francis' first goal came on a fast break. Jeremy Alvert scored on a feed from Grant Garvin. Alvert led the scoring for the Red Raiders with 1g-1a. Aquinas quickly added two more goals before the end of the first quarter with Gorman scoring on a drive from behind and Mike Messina scoring on a straight drive from the top. The final shot of the quarter came from Paul Zacchigna from St. Francis as time expired. St. Francis did not take another shot on the 
cage until 5:53 remaining in the third quarter, over 18 minutes later. The score was 4-1 Aquinas after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Little Irish took 13 shots with nine shots on cage, but only produced two goals. The second quarter was a testament to Lawless who worked to keep the Red Raiders in the game, even without an offense backing him up. Both goals in the second quarter were scored by sophomore Klay Heston. Heston finished the game with 2g-1a. The first goal was scored with a top side drive by Bianchi who passed it to Heston; the second goal was scored from an open cross-crease pass by Anthony Starnino. Aquinas had increased the score to 6-1 at the half.
Before St. Francis took their next shot the Little Irish added three more goals to take the score to 9-1. Gorman scored all three goals. The first came after Heston drove from behind and passed it off to a cutting Gorman up top; the second came when Sam Torchia intercepted the ball on a clear and passed it to Gorman who had an inside dodge and a goal; the third came on another wide-open cross-crease pass from Bernard Gauthier.
St. Francis' second goal came during man-up play when Zacchigna and Zach Haun both drove, Zacchigna from behind with the ball and Haun from up top. Haun caught the ball open at the top corner and let it go. St. Francis scored their third goal with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter with another fast-break off a broken clear. Matt Ganci scored with an assist to Alvert. With 0:45 remaining Aquinas' Gauthier scored the final goal of the game (with another assist by Gorman).
The fourth quarter saw no goals for either team. There was a lot of back and forth play, but Aquinas did a good job of running down the clock when they were on offense and took only five 
shots. St. Francis only managed to take three shots all quarter with only one hitting the cage.
Overall, Aquinas demonstrated the type of team that they want to be this season and made up for some of their play against Churchville-Chili two nights ago. At the end of the game, Aquinas had taken 36 shots as opposed to 24 in the Churchville-Chili game. Additionally, the Little Irish cut their penalties from 12 to 3 between the two games.
Additionally, Aquinas had a 92% clearing percentage and 13 takes. Leading in takes were Mike Owens (4) and Sam Torchia (3). Ground balls were led by Dave Mason (6) and Mike Messina (5).
Between the pipes, Heston had a good day although he only faced six shots (3 saves / 3 goals against). Leading the charge for the Red Raiders was Lawless, with six ground balls and two takes (leading his team in both categories). Additionally, Joe Rautenstrauch had five ground balls and one take.
At the face-off, Aquinas led with Mike Messina and Dave Mason both going over 50%. Messina was 5/7 and Mason was 6/9.
Scoring for Aquinas were Gorman (4g-3a), Heston (2g-1a), Bianchi (2g-1a), Gauthier (1g-1a), Messina (1g) and Starnino (1a).
Scoring for St. Francis were Alvert (1g-1a), Haun (1G), Ganci (1g), Zacchigna (1a) and Garvin (1a).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
-- Irondequoit played strong and steady lacrosse for four quarters and defeated Penfield 11-6. Penfield scored two goals in the last 1:30 of the second quarter 
to keep the game close at half and then another two goals in the final 1:00 of the game to make the score looked closer than it was. Penfield played a game of spurts while the Eagles played consistent lacrosse.
Penfield started the scoring two minutes into the game when Tucker Nelson found Kevin Westcott for the goal. Erik Kleehammer and Ian Brooks both scored before the first quarter ended (both assisted by Nick Doktor). The score was 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and Irondequoit was keeping the pressure up.
The second quarter started with a quick Eagle's goal when Doktor scored his only goal with 10:05 remaining after Greg Coholan found him open.
The scoring stopped for the next nine minutes as both teams went back and forth challenging each other on defense. With 1:36 remaining Drew and Greg Coholan hooked up for a goal to raise the lead to 4-1. Kyle Van Thof, however, took the next face-off and brought the ball all the way by himself scoring only 0:07 later. Van Thof scored his second goal of the game with 0:03 remaining in the half to bring the Patriots within one goal and still very much in the game.
The Eagles, came into the third quarter ready to play and held the Patriots scoreless. Mike Utz and Brooks each added two goals with Doktor, Greg and Drew Coholan each getting an assist.
Heading into the fourth quarter the Eagles were maintaining pressure and Penfield tried, but couldn't get their offense going. Irondequoit added two more goals to increase their lead to 10-3 
before the Patriots found the back of the net again. Jordan Napierala and Emmy Poccia scored for Irondequoit.
With 3:03 remaining Nelson scored his lone goal of the game unassisted. Two minutes later Brooks was back for his fourth and final goal of the game. Penfield added another spurt with two more goals at 0:48 and 0:07. Both goals were scored by James Dwyer.
Overall the game demonstrated consistent pressure by Irondequoit and strong effort to stay in the game by Penfield. Van Thof was 8/15 at the face-off for Penfield and Greg Coholan was 8/13.
In the cage Brady Del Pozzo finished with 10 saves for the Patriots (47%) and Tyler Nash finished with 9 saves for the Eagles (60%).
Scoring for Irondequoit were Brooks (4g), Doktor (1g-3a), Greg Coholan (3a), Utz (2g), Drew Coholan (1g-1a), Poccia (1g-1a), Kleehammer (1g-1a) and Napierala (1g).
Scoring for Penfield were Dwyer (2g), Van Thof (2g), Nelson (1g-1a) and Westcott (1g).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
Brockport 23 - Greece Arc/Oly 9
-- Twelve different players from Brockport made the scorebook as they won a 23-9 victory over their hosts, the Greece Lightning (Arc/Oly). Junior attackman Trevor Hayward led the way with (8g-2a). Junior midfielder Jake Burns scored (5g-1a) and senior attackman Ryan Pratt added (3g-5a) for the Blue Devils.
Seniors Jake Brackett (1g-1a), Peter Orszagh (1g), Matt Lester (1g) and Matt Roegner (1a), were paced by juniors Bryan Johnson (2g), Pat Steves (1g), Nate Wall (4a) and defenseman Will Glynn (1a). Sophomore middie Dylan Brown added (1g-2a) and senior goalie Dylan White recorded (5s/9ga) for Brockport (1-0).
Scoring for the Lightning were Richard Fischer (2g), Joe Malovics (2g), Kendrick Heintzelman (2g-1a), Dvid Powlowski (3g), Brandon Wood (1a) and Robert Kitchen (3a). Sean Trost recorded 14s/18ga against and David Edwards added 3s/5ga for Greece.
Livonia 16 - Newark 3
-- Livonia was an easy winner over Newark, 16-3 in one of the multiple games that went to running time today. Livonia won each quarter (5-2, 4-0, 5-0, and 2-1) and dominated in every aspect of the game.
Livonia out shot Newark 39-8, with 28-6 shots on cage. The Bulldogs also won the ground ball battle 35-27 and had nine takes to Newark's two. Overall the Bulldogs kept up the pressure the entire game, while still allowing the back-ups to play a good portion of the game.
Livonia opened up the scoring with Mike Donals scoring from a broken clear (assisted by Jeff Wester). Wester dominated in today's game and came away with 5g-5a. Donals finished with three goals. Jack Timerson scored the first Newark goal only 0:36 seconds later on a pass from John Gonzalez (who had drawn a double). Freshman attackman Wyatt Struble scored the next goal, assisted by Matt Girolmo only 0:14 second later after a face-off fast-break. Wester added his first goal with an inside dodge to take the score to 3-1 with 8:42 remaining. Junior midfielder Alex Peake scored the second goal for Newark. Peake shot the ball hard from the crease and it eventually dribbled into the back of the goal. That was the last Newark goal until 3:49 remaining in the game. In fact over the next 39 minutes, the Reds only took five shots with only three of them on cage.
Another big scorer for Livonia was Chris Bausch who finished with 2g-4a. Bausch assisted on three out of four goals in a row for the Bulldogs in the third quarter. John Gonzalez scored the final Newark goal with 3:49 remaining in the fourth with a crease ground ball and goal.
At the face-off the two teams were split. Marc Minutolo finished with 9/19 at the draw for Newark and Tom Barrett was 3/3. Livonia had seven different players attempt face-offs. Wester took the majority, winning 7/11.; others included Tristian Hudak 1/1, Andrew Smith 0/4, Ethan Jamison 1/2, Adam Wingate 1/1, Dustin Wheeler 0/1 and Steven Diener 0/2.
Leading in ground balls for Livonia was Wester (9) and Matt Girolmo (5). Hudak and Mike Suess both had two takes for the Bulldogs. Gonzalez (6) led for Newark with both he and Tom Santelli had one take.
"I was pleased for a first game. I was encouraged on rides and clears as our transition game get into a flow with some good looks up field," commented Coach Brett Wood after the game.
Scoring for Livonia were Wester (5g-5a), Bausch (2g-4a), Struble (3g), Donals (3g), Girolmo (2g-1a) and Wheeler (1g). In the cage Livonia split time between Justin Becker (3 saves, 2 goals against) and Ethan Jamison (1 goal against).
Scoring for Newark were Gonzalez (1g-1a), Timerson (1g) and Peake (1g). Both Micah Dingman and Cody Skinner spent time in the cage. Dingman played most of the game with 11 saves and 15 goals against, Skinner made 1 save and had 1 goal against.
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
Brighton 19 - East Rochester 1
-- East Rochester created history on Saturday by hosting Brighton in its first Varsity game. Brighton was the winner by a score of 19-1.
It was a rough start for both teams, who were getting used to game conditions. Brighton scored their first goal at 8:42 when Evan Davis picked up the loose ball in front of the goal and drove it home to give the Barons a 1-0 lead. 
The Barons scored their second goal 0:38 seconds later when CJ Wool took the ball down the field on a clear and fired it past the goalie. Brighton scored the next six goals starting with Wool at 4:39. Conor Stucki scored twice, one at 4:04 and one with 2:29 left. Mark Henrichs took a pass from Max Brauer and scored in a fast break at 2:22. By the end of the first quarter, five different players scored, giving Brighton a 9-0 lead.
Brighton started the second half right where they left off, scoring the first three goals. Wool scored on a pass from Mark Henrichs who also assisted on a goal by Mike Asselin. Asselin scored again in a man up giving the Barons a 12-0 lead.
Freshman attackman Nick Reiss made East Rochester history as he scored East Rochester's first goal (unassisted) in man up with 6:16 left in the quarter. Cappiello drove hard through the Brighton defense bouncing a shot past Brighton goalie Kyle Hohmann.
Brighton scored the next four with goals by Aidan Corbitt, Drew Trausch, Brauer and Matan Cohen. Cohen received a feed from Steven Cregan after a loose ball push foul and drove to the goal taking the score to 15-1.
Brighton increased their lead to 18-1 after three quarters.
Senior goalie Kyle Hohmann started in cage and made 5 saves while allowing only one goal against. Sophomore Jordan Carey finished the game and made 3 saves.
Brighton Head Coach Mike Gottko was pleased with the their opening game. "We had some pretty good scrimmages coming into this game, and we stressed with the kids, just stay fundamentally sound, work hard for forty-eight minutes and hopefully things will take care of themselves."
Scoring for Brighton were CJ Wool (5g-1a), Evan Davis (3g-1a), Mike Asselin (3g), Mark Henrichs (2g-2a), Conor Stucki (2g) and Max Brauer (1g-2a). Brackett Bourne, Aidan Corbitt (1g) and Drew Trausch each scored 1g. Steven Cregan recorded 3a and Jared Ricks and Alex Jordan each added 1a for the Barons (1-0).
Scoring for East Rochester was Nick Reiss (1g). Score only from East Rochester.
-- Hilton won their opening game of the season with a score of 15-7. After taking a 3-1 first quarter lead and was ahead 7-2 at the half.
Senior middie and starting face off man, Jimmy Gaffney won 13 of 20 face-offs and sophomore middie Kyle Youngman added 2 of 3 more for the Cadets.
Scoring for Hilton were Steve Bernston (6g-1a), Matt Fracassi (3g-2a), Gaffney (2a), Youngman (2g-2a) and Mike Crumlish (1g-3a). Brett Endres, Mike Barbone and Mike Meeks each added one more goal for Hilton. Ken Stiles played most of the game, recording 9 saves and allowing 6 goals. Jareth Wischmeyer played the last one-and-one-half minutes and had one save and one goal against for the Cadets (1-0).
Scoring for Eastridge were senior attackman Riley Austin (1g-1a), senior middie Adam Sisson (2g) and senior middie Trevor Horne (2g). Matt Doehler and Kevin Stapleton each added one goal and Pat Moynihan added one assist. Jake Czwilinski reported 8 saves (15 against) in goal for the Lancers.
Pittsford 6 - Churchville-Chili 5
-- Pittsford scored with 7:25 remaining in the third quarter to clinch the win 6-5 against Churchville-Chili during the third game held at Aquinas today. All three of the other games held at Aquinas were big wins for their respective teams with Aquinas winning by 7, Livonia by 13 and Haverling by 10; however, the one game with no GRALL team was the best game to watch of the day.
All eleven goals were unassisted goals. Churchville-Chili scored the first goal of the game with a straight drive down the left side from Zach Yehl, less than a minute into the game. Pittsford scored three goals in the first, as well as the first goal of the second to take a 4-1 lead and it began to look like they were going to take complete control of the game. However, the fourteen players on the Saints team never game up.
TJ Iuppa was the star for the Panthers' offense with his four goals. Each of Iuppa's goals were straight in drives ending in hard shots. Iuppa finished the day with 13 shots / 7 on cage / 4 goals. Jon Hemink was his counterpart on the Saints team. Hemink scored three goals for Churchville-Chili.
With 8:08 remaining in the second quarter and Pittsford leading 4-1, Hemink took the ball and drove straight through the defense and forced the ball into the back of the cage. It seemed as though he wouldn't let the ball not go into the net.
Pittsford's Iuppa retaliated less then 0:30 later with his fourth goal of the game. With Pittsford leading 5-2 with less than three minutes remaining in the second, Churchville needed a goal before the half and they got it on an extra man offensive opportunity. Ryan Yunker scored after Hemink's shot was saved by senior goalie Harry Goluses and Yunker picked up the ball for the second opportunity. Goluses ended the day with 9 saves (64%). Going into halftime the Panther's lead had been cut to two (5-3).
Churchville-Chili scored the next two goals to tie the game within two minutes. Hemink scored both goals. The first came as he began the half as a midfielder on the line for the face-off. He scooped up the ground ball and brought it all the way down for the score. The second goal came at 10:04 and was after another save by Goluses when Hemink picked up the ball and put it away on the second chance shot. Three minutes later the last goal of the game was scored by Craig Jerabeck. It was Jerabeck's only shot of the entire game.
This was Churchville-Chili's second game in a row that was great lacrosse to watch and Pittsford second game in a row with a one goal margin in their favor (both games 6-5). The Saints are demonstrating this season that it is not the number of kids that is important but the quality of the athletes and their amount of drive.
At the face-off it was basically split. Keith Preston (4/10) and Zach Yehl (3/5) took the draws for the Saints; while, James Burke (5/11) and Alex Kober (3/4) took the draws for Pittsford.
Goalie Adam DiFulvio led the Saints with six ground balls and Preston added (5). Iuppa (5), Justin McLiverty (4), Kober (4) and Burke (4) led for Pittsford. Goluses led with three takes for Pittsford and Yehl with two for Churchville.
Scoring for Pittsford were Iuppa (4g), Jerabeck (1g) and Kober (1g).
Scoring for Churchville-Chili were Hemink (3g), Yehl (1g) and Yunker (1g). In the cage, DiFulvio finished with 11 saves (65%).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
-- Fairport defeated Honeoye Falls-Lima 19-5 in the first game of the season for both teams.
Fairport's Mike Lehmann was 19/22 at the face-off and Andrew Kristy finished with eight ground balls for the Red Raiders. Eleven different players made the offensive scorebook for Fairport.
Scoring for Fairport were Connor Lowe (4g-1a), Chris Button (5g-1a), Martin Manilla (4a), Aaron Jones (3g), Brendan Saylor (3g-1a), Chris Benza (2g), Derek DeJoe (1g-1a), Stephen Danylyshyn (1g-1a), Timothy Cook (1a), Paul Dancy (1a) and Tim Modesti (1a). Both Kris Sterzin and Kyle Hall spent time between the pipes for the Red Raiders. Sterzin finished with 5 saves / 5 goals against and Hall finished with 1 save.
Scoring for HFL were Bryan Gardner (3g), Mickey Allan (1g-1a), Jake Lee (1g), Tommy O'Leary (1a) and Clai Kuhn (1a). In the cage, Jay Tallon played the entire game and finished with 19 saves / 19 goals against.
-- Haverling-Haverling easily defeated Mynderse 12-2 in the fourth and final game at Aquinas today. Haverling, who is 2-0, continues to demonstrate their growth and strength outside of GRALL and their hope for their first GRALL win this season.
Mynderse came out early and scored the first goal with 9:58 remaining in the first quarter. Mike Warrick scored with an outside bounce shot (assisted by Charlie Barbay) that made it past goalie Chris Wolfer. Wolfer ended the game with 8 saves (80%). Haverling scored the next ten goals over four quarters. Leading the charge for the Rams were Nick Rossi (4g-1a), and Zach Reed (2g-3a).
Highlights of the game included, the Rams shutting down a three minute non-releasable stick penalty while going 5/6 on their own extra-man opportunities. Eighth grade goalie Tim Trickler of Mynderse also had a good day against the Ram offense. Trickler finished with 12 saves (52%).
Haverling's Matt Nesbitt finished with seven ground balls, two takes and 9/14 at the face-off draw. Zach Reed (6) and Brent Harrison (5) also added to the ground ball totals. Both teams were relatively equal with Haverling having a slight 34-33 edge. Leading for the Blue Devils were Matt Koopman (6), Trickler (5) and Nick Giovannini (4). Warrick took most of the face-offs for Mynderse and finished 5/8. Penalties were an issue with each team having six penalties. However, as noted earlier; Haverling capitalized on 5/6 opportunities, while Mynderse could not capitalize on five opportunities.
Haverling took 47 shots in the game with just over half (24) hitting the cage; while Mynderse took 19 shots and 10 on cage.
Scoring for Haverling were Rossi (4g-1a), Reed (2g-3a), Mark Martuscello (2g), Drew Wager (2a), Harrison (1g), Andy Nesbitt (1g), Matt Nesbitt (1g) and Cole Beebe (1a).
Scoring for Mynderse were Barbay (1g-1a) and Warrick (1g).
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
-- Webster Schroeder dominated Victor in their 11-2 win today. Schroeder scored the first ten 
goals of the game by 4:19 remaining in the half.
Cody Consul led the scoring efforts for the Warriors with 4g-2a. Consul scored the first two goals of the game with assists from Brett Farrell and Pete Noto. Of the first ten goals, four of them were extra man offense. Noto added a goal of his own for the third goal with Farrell assisting once again. Mark Butto and Mark Saltrelli each added a goal of their own to round out the first quarter with Schroeder leading 5-0.
Once again Consul started the scoring, this time assisted by Chris Mason. After assisting Consul, Mason scored his own goal with Butto feeding him. Mason's goal was followed quickly by Butto scoring his second goal of the game. Consul assisted both Butto's goals as well as the ninth goal by Chris Topping. Topping also took the majority of face-offs and finished 6/11 for the game. The tenth goal and the final goal of the first half was scored by Mason with an assist from Vin Barilla.
With scoring in hand, Schroeder began to play their subs. Victor got their first goal with 7:21 remaining as Vince Pettrone scored on man-up. Consul added the Warrior's final goal with 3:08 remaining in the third quarter. Victor's Connor Kimball scored the lone goal of the fourth quarter.
Schroeder outshot Victor 30-16 and won the ground ball battle 26-17. Leading ground balls for Schroeder were Saltrelli (6) and Toppiong (4), while Waseleski (3) and Wieser (3) led for the Blue Devils. Consul had two takes for the Warriors.
In the cage, both teams split time with goalies. Sean Cone began the game for the Blue Devils, and Kevin Donnelly played the remaining 41 minutes. Donnelly finished with 5 saves and 6 goals against. Scott Tota played the first three quarters for Schroeder and finished with 5 saves and 1 goal against. Eric Saltrelli played the final quarter and finished with 1 save and 1 goal against.
Scoring for Webster Schroeder were Consul (4g-2a), Butto (2g-1a), Mason (2g-1a), Brett Farrell (2a), Pete Noto (1g-1a), Topping (1g), Mark Saltrelli (1g) and Barilla (1a).
Scoring for Victor were Pettrone (1g) and Kimball (1g).
<For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
-- Webster Thomas started their 2009 campaign with an 18-3 win over visiting Gates Chili in a game held at McAvoy Park. Ten different players made the offensive scorebook for the Titans.
Attackmen Brad Hutton (3g-1a), Jack Hinderland (3g-3a) and Nick Scalzo (4g-1a) led
the offensive effort for the Titans. Pat Morrill and Ken Tomeno both scored 3g and Kyle Rothfuss added two more goals. Bill Gurowski and JT Hauck each had 2a and Doug Lancie and goalie, Austin Fox each added one assist for Thomas.
Junior Zach Crawford won 6 of 8 face offs, John Hart added 3 of 4, Ken Tomeno won 4 of 6 and JT Hauck went 2 for 3 for the Thomas face off squad.
Thomas used three goalies in the win, starting with senior Jim O'Neil (8s/0ga/24 mins). Fellow senior Austin Fox had (2s/2ga/15 mins) and junior Dan Solimano had (1s/1ga/9 mins).
Scoring for Gates Chili were Sophomore attackman Grant Ferguson (1g-1a), junior attackman Tyler Webb (1g) and junior attackman Brian Eckam (1g). Senior goalie Jason Baetzhold had 14s/18ga.
