Saturday: The Season Starts with Five Games

March 22, 2014 -

Over the past few seasons the GRALL has opened the season in Section Five with a day of games at the Aquinas Institute. Last season the same three teams faced each other with the same victors. Last year Gananda defeated Haverling 13-3, Aquinas defeated St. Francis with the same score as this year (9-6) and R-H defeated Livonia 14-10.

Thomas opened their season with a 9-6 win against Iroquois and the Greece Thunder defeated Eastridge 11-6.

 --  In the SportsFive Featured game of the day, Gananda scored 1:34 into the first overtime period to defeat Haverling 8-7. Over their history in Section Five, Gananda and Haverling have faced each other four times, twice in 2013 and the first time in 2011. Haverling won the first contest 18-5 in 2011 before Gananda won the next three. Gananda had defeated Haverling 33-16 in the last two contests and the Rams were looking for revenge this year.

Both teams started off slowly and scored their goals in runs. The first quarter belonged to Haverling as the Rams held the Blue Panthers scoreless for 12:39. The Rams were more controlled in choosing their shots in the first quarter. They took a total of four shots with three on cage and two goals in the opening quarter. Gananda finished with 8 shots with three on cage. The ball spent a lot of time on the ground with both teams constantly knocking the ball loose. Wyatt Hall finished the first quarter with four take-aways for Haverling. Sophomore Dylan Joy finished with one take-away for Gananda. Joy finished the contest with an impressive 14 ground balls (to lead both teams) and 3 take-aways. He was a major factor for the Blue Panthers as he was constantly denying Haverling the ball and coming up with loose balls on both sides of the field (as well as from the face-off wing line). Joy, who was committed verbally to Vermont, was named to the Second Team All Section Five last season as a freshman and demonstrated today that he plans on continuing his strong defensive play this season.

The first goal of the game was scored from a fast break by the Rams. They came down the field with numbers and were initially stopped by an impressive play from Joy who knocked the ball to the ground but could not control possession. Caleb Gable-Hyer picked the loose ball off the turf and finished into the back of the net with 9:10 remaining in the opening quarter. Gable-Hyer finished with two goals on three shots for the Rams. The game continued to move back and forth with Gananda forcing shots at the cage and Haverling holding the ball until it was eventually stripped without a shot. With 0:14 remaining in the quarter, Mitch Fuller took a sidearm shot from the outside that made it past goalie Marty LaFica. The Blue Panthers won the ensuing face-off and after a penalty took possession of the ball into the second quarter. Haverling led 2-0 after 12 minutes of play.

The second quarter was almost the polar opposite of the first. Gananda started taking smarter shots that resulted in on-cage shots and goals. Conversely, Haverling took four shots in the entire quarter (the same number as in the first) but did not hit the cage once. The Blue Panthers took their possession and scored a goal with it. Their first attempt at the goal resulted in a great shooting opportunity for Zach Binggeli. He was open at the right flank but could not convert and ended up missing the cage. With 0:19 remaining in the penalty, Binggeli passed the ball to Joe Fisher who was open for the goal. Four minutes later Gananda tied the game with Nick Rapp feeding inside the crease to Binggeli.

Binggeli finished with one more goal in the fourth quarter to end the game with 2g-1a. Over the entire game he finished with 12 shots (5 on cage) and had four ground balls. He finished with 32% of the shots for the Blue Panthers. Gananda took the lead with 4:13 remaining in the opening half with another inside feed. Cruz Mayberry drove to the goal and after the slide dropped the ball into the crease where Colin Brillian was waiting. Like the first quarter there was a penalty to finish the second quarter. This time, Haverling held on to the ball to take possession in to the half. The Blue Panthers held the 3-2 lead at halftime.

Both teams woke up in the second half with Haverling scoring the first two goals of the quarter and Gananda scoring the last three goals of the quarter. Haverling continued to hold back on shooting with one six shots (4 on cage and 2 goals). Gananda had 10 shots (5 on cage and 3 goals). Gananda also won the ground ball count 11-9. Joy was responsible for four in the third quarter alone. Once again, Haverling took advantage of possession to start the quarter and scored the game tying goal. After moving the ball quickly around the outside, Michael Rice scored with an assist from Mitch Fuller. Less than one minute later Haverling took back the lead. Patrick Brewer, in an impressive feat of athleticism, took the ball straight down the middle and forced it into the back of the cage. Brewer, a sophomore, finished with two goals on six shots and looked primed for an impressive season.

Gananda took over for the second half of the quarter to tie the game and take a two goal lead. The turn around began with 7:22 remaining and a fast break goal for the Blue Panthers. Mayberry took the ball up and scored, unassisted, to tie the game. Two minutes later Riley Palmer drove to the crease for an unassisted goal that gave the Blue Panthers their second lead of the game. The game settled down for the next five minutes with both teams taking shots on the cage and neither team scoring. With 0:31 remaining in the quarter, the Blue Panthers struck again. The play began with a heavy ride and broken clear. Brillian, a senior, stripped the ball during the clear and forced a 2-1 with the defense. He forced the long-pole to cover him and dumped off the ball to Fisher for his second of three goals. Gananda led 6-4 going into the final quarter of regulation.

Gananda extended their lead to a respectable three goals with the first goal of the quarter only 0:44 into play. Mayberry found Binggeli alone on the crease again and gave him his second goal of the game. Play continued with Haverling attempting to move the ball around and looking for perfect shots that never emerged. With three minute remaining in regulation and down by three goals the Rams had only taken four shots in the quarter (with only two on cage). They didn't look like a team that wanted to win but Coach Ken DiDomineck called a time out with 3:26 remaining. When the boys came out of the huddle they looked like a new team. They took five shots in the final three minutes (with 3 goals to send the game to overtime).

With 2:59 remaining, Brewer scored with a high bounce that slipped past LaFrica and into the upper corner. The Blue Panthers won the face-off and took the ball down. Fuller stepped up his defensive game and knocked down the ball allowing Hall to pick up one of his seven ground balls and begin the clear. Hall, with his long stick, took the ball all the way down to the offensive area where he found Gable-Hyer open on the fast break to bring the game within a single goal. Once again the Blue Panthers won the face-off. They passed the ball around the back of the cage and made a crucial mistake when they stepped out of the box. The Rams took the ball up and called another time out. Straight out of the time out they gave the ball to Fuller. Fuller took the ball to the cage and tied the game with 0:!5 remaining. Gananda continued their streak with face-off wins and won the final face off of regulation and called a quick time out. They gave the ball to Rapp, but he failed to convert on the last minute attempt. Haverling's Jacob Cupp finished regulation with a save as time expired to send the game into overtime. Cupp finished with 12 saves (60%) for the contest.

In overtime, Gananda won the opening face off and never gave Haverling an attempt on their offensive side of the field. Overall the combination of Remmy and Glod at the face-off draw and Joy on the wing finished with a 65% win ratio. Joy finished with five face off ground balls with Binggeli getting two more and Glod getting one of his own. After the face off win, Binggeli took a shot at the goal that was saved by Cupp. After the whistle there was a late hit the resulted in a 2 minute non-releasable penalty against Haverling. It was too much for the Rams to overcome and 1:19 into the penalty Mayberry assisted Fisher on a crease feed to secure the win for Gananda.

The contest ended with Gananda storming the field and pilling on to Fisher and Haverling, although devastated, holding their heads high at the near comeback. After the contest, Coach DiDomineck lamented about how one quarter can change the outcome of the game. He noted that they had a bad second quarter (they were held scoreless) and said "You can't win if you don't play the whole 48 minutes."

Cupp, the goalie, finished with a team leading eight ground balls for Haverling. Hall finished with seven and Brewer and Fuller added four each. For Gananda, LaFica finished with six recorded saves. In addition to Joy's ground balls, Brillian and Binggeli added four each and Rapp added five to the count.

Without another contest scheduled for 2014, the Rams will have to wait for either Sectionals of 2015 for their next chance at revenge against the Blue Panthers. 

--  Although Iroquois (Section VI) scored the first goal of the game, Webster Thomas scored the next three and six of the next seven to defeat the Chiefs 9-6. The Titans were led in scoring by Kevin Hill with six goals. He finished the game with 16 shots (9 on cage) and accounted for 41% of the shooting for Thomas. Travis Ford finished with 2g-1a (off 10 shots). Ford and Hill together finished with 67% of the Titan shots and were a part of all but one goal.

Defenseman Ryan Nugent finished with a team leading eight ground balls and midfielder Joe Vasile finished at 63% at the face off draw.

--  Greece Athena/Odyssey scored the first four goals of the contest but then was held scoreless for over thirty minutes. Eastridge scored nine goals before the Thunder scored again and won 11-6. Freshman attackman Andrew Doktor and junior midfielder Anthony Suero both finished with four goals to lead the offense efforts of the Lancers.

Defensively, goalie Chris Doktor finished with 17 saves (74%) including shut outs in both the second and third quarters. Long-stick defenseman George Bauer, Noah Johnson and Aidan Ferrin were also big contributors on the defensive end. Suero also contributed significantly to getting the Lancers that ball. He finished 14/17 at the face of draw with the help of LSM Grant Pearce.
 

-- Rush-Henrietta scored the first eleven goals in their 14-2 win over Livonia in the third game at Aquinas on the opening day of games. The Royal Comets controlled the majority of the game with 45% of their totals shots resulting in goals and 65% of their shots on cage. Leading in scoring were Brad Schillinger (1g-4a) and Nick Lenhard (2g-3a). In the cage, Corey Luty finished with 6 saves (75%) and Dylan Meyer played the final 10 minutes without facing a shot.

Jack Simpson (1g-1a) and Jonathan Mohnkem (1g) scored for the Bulldogs. John Stockslader finished the game with 6 recorded saves. Midfielder Zach Bishopp finished with a team leading six ground balls for Livonia.
 

 -- In the second game at Aquinas, the Little Irish took on St. Francis (Section VI). The game was close for the first half and then Aquinas scored the first two goals of the third quarter and held the lead though the final twenty-four minutes. Senior attackmen Alex Bianchi (3g-2a) and Jonathan Olbrich (4g) led in scoring for Aquinas. Bianchi and Olbrich finished with 19 shots with 9 on cage. The game was physical throughout and concluded with 27 total penalties accruing 24 minutes of time (12 minutes per team).

The game started off with St. Francis scoring back to back goals in the first two minutes. Attack and Stefaniak scored for the Red Raiders with the latter goal assisted by Hornberger. Hornberger finished with 1g-3a to lead the Red Raiders. The first Little Irish goal was scored when Bianchi with a feed from Jamison Whitfield from behind the cage. Whitfield finished with 1g-1a for Aquinas. Less than a minute later DiPasquale scored the first of his two goals to give the Red Raiders a 3-1 lead. The first quarter ended with St. Francis leading by two.

In the second quarter the Little Irish caught up with the first two goals of the quarter. Both were scored with outside assists. The first was Alex Uhlein to Olbrich and the second was Greer Leva to Bianchi. With 6:00 remaining in the first half the score was tied 3-3. St. Francis took their first lead of the game with an unassisted goal from Hornberger. Bianchi scored his second consecutive goal (again assisted by Leva) with a feed from behind the cage to the right flank. The first half ended in a 4-4 tie.

The third quarter had a flurry of early scoring with Olbrich adding two goals in the first 3:02. The first goal was scored during a man-up situation with an assist from Anthony DePetres and the second was Leva's third assist of the game. St. Francis kept the game close. Near the end of the third quarter there was flurry of penalties which resulted in 7-on-7 play. The third quarter ended with Aquinas holding a one goal lead (7-6).

The Little Irish held the Red Raiders scoreless in the final quarter while adding two more of their own. The first was scored early in the quarter before the penalties were release and was scored man-down for the Little Irish. Leva scored his lone goal of the game with 11:29 remaining in the contest. The final goal of the game came 90 seconds later with Olbrich's fourth goal (assisted by Bianchi).

In the cage for the Little Irish, Andrew Kausch finished with five recorded saves. Defenseman Tyler Olbrich and midfielder Terrance Richards finished with six ground balls each to lead Aquinas. Liam Smith (4), Whitfield (3) and DePetres (3) also added to the ground ball count. Smith finished with a team leading three takes. Richards finished 12/16 (75%) at the face off draw.

  

 

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