PENN YAN
March 18,2006 - It’s not hard to pick Penn Yan as the team most likely to win sectionals this year. After all, the Mustangs have won their sectional championship every year since 1997. That means that when junior standout defenseman Mike Manley was in third grade the Mustangs started a championship streak that has not ended. Given the talent returning from last year, it is reasonable to say that Penn Yan is the top team in the Section Five. But let’s start with last year.

Penn Yan finished second in the Finger Lakes last year, having lost only two games to Canandaigua. They finished with a 17-7 record, with “in season” losses to some of the toughest competition that Coach Brian Hobart could arrange (Lafayette, Carthage, Ithaca, Amherst, West Genesee, and Monroe County teams Schroeder and HFL).

The Mustangs were seeded 1st in the Class C side of the B/C Tournament and beat HFL for the Championship (5-2) after winning against Newark (18-2), Pal-Mac(15-2) and Waterloo (15-4). In the New York State Tournament, Penn Yan beat Canton (Section 10), 12-8, before losing to Lafayette 13-7 in the semi finals. They finished 6th in the New York State Poll and 64th in the Laxpower National rankings.

Five players were named to the B/C Class All Tournament team including junior Dan Mesler (mid), sophomore Michael Manley (def), junior Tristan Keas (def) and sophomore R.J. Wickham in the goal. Senior Jon Van Houten (mid) was named MVP. Mesler, Manley, Wickham and Van Houten were each repeats, having won the honor in 2004.

Making the first team All League List in the Finger Lakes were junior Steven Carlson (att), Van Houten (mid), Mesler (mid), Manley (def), Keas (def), and Wickham (goal). Van Houten was named to the All American team.

The 2006 team is full of optimism and for good reason. Although Van Houten (Drexel) was a presence for the Mustangs last year, nearly everyone else is back. Coach Hobart has ten players with at least three years of varsity experience and the only thing they have not done is win a State Title. Penn Yan is the only Section Five team to win a State Championship (2001) and the current players remember that win.

The defense will be extraordinary, anchored by Michael Manley, Tristan Keas and Preston Christensen, but expect Coach Hobart to use four long sticks (perhaps throwing Dana Wilber into the mix) and this will make it difficult to get a shot to RJ Wickham, who is one of the top goalies in the Section.

Senior attackmen Steven Carlsen (early to Binghamton) and Dan McGuffie return to the attack and Dan Mesler (early to Sacred Heart) will return to the midfield. Junior midfielders Ryan Cook, Dan Wolfe and Chris Carlson, junior attackman Brandon Trombley and junior defensemen Donnie Benedict each had varsity experience last year and return.

Coach Hobart, who loves to work with young players, will expect results from new freshmen midfielders John Linan (mid), Ty Trombley and Matt Osgood.

Last year, some fans wondered why Penn Yan would schedule such hard out of league games and, in fact, he lost 4 out of 7, but Coach Hobart knows his team benefited from the competition and, after all, they did make the State semifinals even with the loses. The coach is back at it again, and has scheduled West Genesee as his opener. The Mustangs will also play out of league games with Schroeder, Carthage, Fairport, Shenendehowa, Amherst and Ithaca.

The hometown fans will celebrate their new artificial turf field this season with twelve home games this season. They will also open their field to other Finger Lakes teams for early season games. Waterloo, who also added a new artificial turf field will do the same.

Top Returners:

Steven Carlson – 12 - mid
Michael Manley – 11 - def
Tristan Keas – 12 - def
R.J. Wickham – 11 - goal
Dan Mesler – 12 - mid
Dan McGuffie – 12- att
Preston Christensen – 12 - def
Dana Wilber – 11 - def
Ryan Cook - 12 - mid
Dan Wolfe - 12 - mid
Donnie Benedict – 12 - def
Chris Carlson - 12 - mid
Brandon Trombley – 12 - att

Top New Players:

John Linan – 9 – mid
Ty Trombley – 9 – mid
Matt Osgood – 9 – att