Monday: Canandaigua and Fairport the Winners
March 29, 2010 -
Pittsford and Fairport hosted Monroe County cross-over games today. Fairport was a 16-4 winner over Honeoye Falls-Lima and Canandaigua was a 7-5 winner over Pittsford. The CA/Pittsford game was attended by over five hundred fans who bundled up for the 7:00 start at Nazareth College and there was excitement for fans on both sides.
-- The story of Canandaigua and Pittsford needs to be told in two very different parts. At the end of the game, the Braves defeated the Panthers 7-5. In the first half the Braves were controlled, patient and confident; in the second half they were flat, slower and less in control.Offensively, the first half found the Braves with 13 shots and 9 on cage which produced 6 goals. In the second half, the Braves only took 6 shots with 4 on which produced 1 goal. Specifically in the fourth quarter Canandaigua only took one shot, which missed the cage. This became especially apparent when the Panthers where stepping up their game in the fourth quarter. The Panthers scored three of their five goals in the third quarter with two in the last five minutes. Overall, there were two different styles at play today with the Panthers taking over twice the number of Canandaigua shots. 
Pittsford finished with 43 shots, only 20 of which hit the cage (47%). On the other hand, Canandaigua only took 19 shots with 13 on cage (68%).
Defensively, senior goalie Nick King finished the first half at 100% with 8 saves. In the second half he had seven saves with five goals against (58%). King (75% for the game) made a number of stellar saves throughout the game; including a save with less than 2:00 remaining to stop a critical Panther momentum. In the first half, the CA defense was all over the place with aggressive double-teams but in the second half, when presented with a double, they only seemed to lack enthusiasm and easy dropped back to their basic assignments.
Overall, the Braves were the team that changed. The Panthers were fairly consistent throughout the game and as a result looked much better in the second half. That being said it was senior attackman James Purpura who started the momentum switch in the third quarter. Purpura scored his first goal with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter. After a restart he took the ball around from behind the cage and forced the ball into the back of the net. 
Purpura looked driven to get the ball into the cage. Four minutes later with 6:45 remaining, Pittsford took a time-out after which Purpura once again ended up with the ball. Once again he drove around from behind the cage and if by a force of will put the ball into the net past King.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers continued their momentum with three goals. The Braves, which looked to just be trying to get to the end of the game with their lead intact, held the ball every chance they got and only went to the cage once. The Braves were called for stalling twice during the quarter. The Panthers scored with a straight in dodge by James Burke with 8:27 remaining followed four minutes later by a feed from behind by Purpura to Matt Gold. Canandaigua won the next face-off, but senior defenseman Justin McLiverty stripped the ball and picked up his own ground ball. McLiverty ran the ball down the field and shot on cage (missing) which gave the ball back to the Braves. The next chance the Panthers had with the ball resulted in a goal when junior Alex Kober unloaded on the cage underhanded for the last goal of the game.
The Panthers had one more chances with the ball. Canandaigua won the face-off and called a time-out. When play resumed the 2:00 warning was called, but, the Braves only tagged the corner of the box and were called for illegal procedure to give the Panthers another chance. After a missed shot by Alex Kober, Purpura got the ball. He put his shot toward the upper corner; however, King stepped up to stop whatever momentum Pittsford had gained. Canandaigua cleared the ball, and after another time-out ran out the clock.
There were a number of standout players for the Panthers including Burke at the face-off who finished 4/5 on regular draws (3/6 on technical face-offs). 
Kober and Burke led in ground balls for the Panthers with three each. Alex Howell played the entire game for Pittsford and finished with six saves. Howell, who looked good in the cage, could not keep pace with the high powered Canandaigua attack.
Canandaigua, even with the second half effort were the better team tonight. The Braves were unbelievably talented and deep. This early in the season Canandaigua is still looking to get their feet underneath them and started their schedule with one of the strongest teams in Class A. Canandaigua's dedication year in and year out demonstrated why lacrosse is such major part of their community. The Braves attack led in the scoring effort contributing 5g-2a. Senior attackman Brandon Thompson finished with 4g leading the Braves. Senior attackmen Adam Knapton (1g-1a) and Deven Alves (1a) added to the offense. Senior midfielders Tom LaCrosse (2g-1a) and Collin Peck (1a) rounded out the scoring.
The Braves offense looked strong early in the game, scoring six out of eight shots on cage in the first half. However it was the defense that shined. Along with King's strengths, the man-down defense for the Braves was beyond exceptional. The Braves shut down nine minutes of penalties, including a three minute non-releasable stick penalty and a two minute slashing penalty. Their defense held the Panther offense to only three shots during the entire stick penalty.
Both Pittsford and Canandaigua are in store for great seasons. This early in the year both are still struggling to find their legs, however the skill can be seen in both teams. The Panthers look to their next game against Brockport, while Canandaigua looks to Rush-Henrietta for their next contest.
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
-- Fairport reached a twelve goal lead by halftime on their way to a 16-4 win over HF-L in the earlier of today's two games. The Red Raiders found ten different players making the scorebook and 23 making the stat book.Fairport scored eight goals before HF-L got on the board in the second quarter. Their six unanswered goals in the first quarter were scored by three different seniors. Chris Button scored three, Brendan Saylor scored two and James Manilla scored one. Saylor also assisted on two of the goals. J. Manilla's goal was assisted by his elder brother, senior Martin Manilla. M. Manilla finished as one of the three leading scorer for the Red Raiders. He and Button both finished with 5g-1a and Saylor finished with 3g-3a.
In the second quarter Button added two more goals early on the quarter before the Cougars scored the first goal. Nick Weston fed the ball to senior attackman Jason Breau for HF-L. Weston finished with two assists and Breau finished with two goals. M. Manilla scored the next four goals in the second quarter, each had a different assister (Saylor, Button, Stephen Danylyshyn, and unassisted). The final goal of the quarter was scored as Tim Modesti assisted Saylor for his final goal of the game.
In the second half both teams added three goals. M. Manilla scored only 0:14 into the quarter with an assist from junior Andrew Hays (who finished with two assists). Tommy O'Leary added an unassisted goal for the Cougars. J. Manilla finished the quarter with his second goal with 0:31 remaining in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, senior attackman Sam Covell added his first goal of the season and his second Varsity goal of his career only 31 seconds into the quarter during an extra-man opportunity. The Red Raiders converted on 4 of 7 extra-man attempts. HF-L scored the final two goals of the game. Breau added his second goal with an assist from Weston. Eric Boike scored the final goal of the game with 4:46 remaining in the game.
Overall, the Red Raiders controlled nearly all the aspects of the contest with the only exemption at the face-off draw where HFL senior midfielder Jordan Gushue, lining up for every face off in the game, finished with 68% for the Cougars. He won 12 and then lost 4 straight face-offs (going 3/6 on technical face-offs). He also led in ground balls for the Cougars with 8; Mickey Allan (5) and Jake Lee (3) also made contributions. James Cunningham (3) and Danylyshyn (3) led the Red Raiders in ground ball production.
In the cage, Fairport spit goalies at halftime with sophomore Blaze Riorden finishing with 4 saves (80%) and junior Kyle Bowerman finishing with 3 saves (50%). HFL's goalie, Stephen Leonard, finished with 6 saves.
For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.
