Saturday: Two out of Three to go to Finals

June 6, 2012 -

Irondequoit and Penn Yan both won their ticket to the New York State Championships on Saturday as the result of their wins today. Pen Yan defeated Homer 10-8 in the first game of the day at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Fairport lost a heart-breaker, but well played game, against Ithaca who won 11-9 in the Class A game. Irondequoit beat Jamesville-DeWitt 8-4 in the Class B game.

 

  --  A very exciting game ended with Penn Yan earning a trip to the NYS Championships after their 10-8 Class C win over Homer (Section III). It was a game of two halves as the Mustangs went right to work winning the first quarter 6-1 and leading at the half 7-2. But Homer came back strong in the third quarter with four unanswered goals, keeping the game close. After the third quarter Penn Yan held the lead 7-6.

The Mustang defense was once again a major factor in their victory, James Burdette and Mike Thiesmeyer had exceptional long stick performances and sophomore goalie Brandon Maciejewski recorded 14 saves in the cage for Penn Yan. On the offensive end of the field All American Dylan Yonts showed great poise as he and the rest of the offense kept careful control of the ball and scored on carefully calculated plays.

Penn Yan took a quick lead, scoring six goals in the first quarter and taking their 6-1 first quarter lead to 7-1 before the Trojans scored one goal. The score at halftime was 7-2 Penn Yan. The Trojans were winning face off in the first half, but the Mustang defense was strong and aggressive with James Burdette, Mike Thiesmeyer and Kevin Kerrick often breaking up plays and clearing the ball for Penn Yan.

The Trojans came back strong in the third quarter, scoring four unanswered goals and. At the end of the quarter Penn Yan was still ahead but the score was 7-6.

The last twelve minutes were as exciting as a game gets with both teams working hard for the victory. Maciejewski made a spectacular save and sent the ball to Burdette, who took the ball the length of the field and shot. It was saved by goalie Jonathan Cottrell, but Penn Yan got the ball back. Ryan Maciejewski had a drive from behind the cage to end the Mustang scoring drought. The ball then traveled up and down the field with both goalies making saves. On one Penn Yan clear Sean Ferrito intercepted a clearing pace and raced the ball to the cage for a Trojan goal. Penn Yan held the ball for long possessions and then at 3:30 Yonts took a short stick defenseman to the goal and put Penn Yan up 9-7. After being warned to "keep it in", Ryan Maciejewski found Voigt cutting to crease and Penn Yan extended their lead to 10-7. After the next face off, Penn Yan went man down and Homer scored on a pass from Zimmerman to Johnson. That was the final score as Penn Yan was able to control the ball for almost the last two minutes.

The Mustangs now move on to the Championship game in Middletown, where they will face Shoreham-Wading River. 
  

  --  It was a heart-breaking loss for Fairport as their dream ended when the lost to Ithaca 11-9. The game was well played by both teams as they tied both the second and fourth quarters. A one goal differential in the first and three quarters was the difference.

The game was tied four times and there was never a difference of more than three goals. Ithaca took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter with goals by Jaedon Henderson and Eli Lasda. Derek DeJoe scored from the left wing for Fairport's goal.

The Little Red scored first in the second quarter, but Fairport came back with goals by Pat VanBortle and Dan McAvoy. The teams traded goals for a 4-4 tie and a goal by Orazio Ciaschi gave Homer a 5-4 lead at halftime.

Fairport came out strong at the top of third with three goals in a row, taking a 7-5 lead. DeJoe, Brian Martin an d Kyle Sterzin each had unassisted goals for the Red Raiders. Ithaca returned with a long scoring streak of their own. They scored four goals before the end of the quarter. Eli Lasda scored the first and assisted Henderson on the second. Adam Fiore scored the third and assist Lawless on the fourth. The Little Red held a 9-7 lead going into the last quarter.

Doug Biondi's unassisted goal at the top of the fourth quarter gave Ithaca a 10-7 lead, but the Red Raiders added one in EMO as Jay Vakiener scored on a feed from Martin. Fairport goalie Blaze Riorden, who had a great day in the cage, lost control of a Biondi shot and it bounced from his stick into the goal. Brian Martin scored the last goal of the game on an outside shot. Ithaca was able to play keep away for a little less than two minutes to secure the 11-9 win.

Fairport ends its incredible season with a 20-1 record and a lot of great memories.

Ithaca moves on to play for the Class A Championship in Middletown on Saturday. They will play West Islip, who won their game against Niskayuna with a score of 9-6. 
  

  --  Although the Rams took a 2-0 lead at the start of the game, the Eagles held JD scoreless for over thirty minutes by mixing slow, patient ball control with quick bursts to the goal. The quarter ended with JD up 2-1.

Gunnar Miller tied the game with a leaping shot at 10:10 remaining in the half. Irondequoit spent a great deal of the time passing the ball around the outside, strategically taking time off the clock and often being told to "get it in and keep it in" by the officials. The stall warnings had little meaning as the Eagles were very able to control the ball inside the restraining area. After lulling the Little Red defense, the Eagles quickly shifted to "go mode" and scored on drives from both behind the cage and from the wings. The result was to give the Eagles a 4-2 lead at the halftime break. They held the powerful Ithaca offense to a single shot (by Evans) which was saved by senior goalie Eric Fischer. Loren Caples was demonstrative in defense, with numerous take away's and controlling key offensive players.

Irondequoit extended their lead in the third quarter, outscoring Ithaca 2-1. After two goals by Briele Caples and with the score 6-2, JD finally broke the scoring draught with a goal by Brady (from Johnson) with 1:30 in the third quarter.

Nick Doktor scored on a hard drive from behind at 10:24 gave the Eagles a 7-3 lead. Fischer made three more big saves before Brady scored on a beautiful behind the back shot after receiving the ball from Evan behind the cage. The tension was high throughout the fourth quarter, as both teams played for every ground ball. With a small momentum swing, Ithaca scored a man up goal (Burns assisted by Evans) with 3:45 left in the game. The Eagles took more time off the clock, before Miller scored the last goal of the game with 1:45 left in the game.

Irondequoit moves on to the Finals and will play Garden City who beat Yorktown tonight 14-4.
  

 

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