| ESG - Thursday: Day One - Here We Go |
July 27,2006 -
| Game
1: Central-19 vs Adirondack-4 |
Central made a strong
statement in the opening contest of the 2006
Empire State Lacrosse Games with a 19-4 rout
over Adirondack in their round one game at
the stadium field at RIT.
Senior midfielder Josh Amidon (Lafayette) who
had a good face off effort with 5 of 8 tries,
scored the first goal for Central (unassisted)
at 9:12. On the ensuing face off Adirondack’s
Josh Knight took the face off and ran right to
the goal, scoring an unassisted tying goal just
eight seconds later. Central then scored then
next twelve goals in a row, when Adirondack added
three more while Central made sure that everyone
saw playing time.
With great depth in the midfield, Central used
three units to control the Adirondack team at
both ends of the field while ADK’s often
errant passes were picked off by both close defensemen
and middies from the Central team.
Attackman Jeremy Boltus, who with 40g-27a, was
second in scoring this spring behind teammate
Jack Venditti at Baldwinsville, ended the game
with a team high 6 points (4g-2a). His first
goal of the game (unassisted) at 6:30 put Central
ahead for good. After a brief slowdown, middie,
Jovan Miller from Christian Brothers Academy
scored (unassisted), and was followed, less than
a minute later by another unassisted goal by
Boltus.
Nick Lococo (CNS) who led last year’s ESG
tournament scoring with 3g-12a, scored the first
assisted goal of the game on a pass from attackman
Jack Harmatuk who scored 62g-27a last spring
for Christian Brothers Academy. Harmatuk scored
again at 2:32 (unassisted) and midfielder Nick
Blumer who was second in scoring behind Lococo
at CNS (50g-11a) finished the quarter with a
feed from Lococo.
Sophomore middie John Greeley (Lafayette) scored
an unassisted goal in the first minute of the
second quarter. Venditti scored an attack goal
with a feed from Lococo which was followed less
than two minutes later with a goal by middie
Joel White (Cortland) on a pass from Boltus.
Almost seven minutes elapsed before Greeley scored
the first man up goal on a Boltus feed at 1:44.
The Central man up unit scored 2 goals on four
tries in the game while the Adirondack man up
unit scored 1 goal on four opportunities. Lococo
ended the half with an unassisted goal at 0:27
to send the game into the break with Central
up 12-1.
The third quarter saw five penalties divided
almost equally between the teams with each team
scoring one extra man goal.
Joel White scored an unassisted midfield goal
for Central sending the game into running time
at 10:53. Adirondack middie, Nick DiSarro, one
of ten players from Niskayuna (Second II champions),
scored an unassisted man up goal at 7:51 ending
ADK’s dry spell and sending the clock in
to regular time. Chris Hall (Niskayuna) added
another for Adirondack (assisted by Nisky teammate
Steve D’Amario) at 7:38.
After a penalty for too many ADK players on the
field, Boltus scored in man up on a pass from
Amidon, but ADK came back less than a minute
later when senior middie Sam Bradman (Canton)
scored an unassisted goal for ADK taking the
score to 14-4 for Central. That was the lost
goal Adirondack would score.
Central scored two more goals in the third quarter
(Boltus from Harmatuk and Tim Rommel from Venditti)
ending the third quarter with Central up 16-4.
With the clock in running time for the last quarter,
Tully senior defenseman Tim Henderson scored
on a fast break clear and a pass from Greeley.
The combinations of Harmatuk from Venditti and
Lococo from Venditti ended the game with Central
the winner 19-4.
Adirondack goalies Pat Corbine from Canton (6s/7ga=46%)
and Nic Rende from CBA-Albany (5s/12ga=29%) split
time in the goal. Guilderland’s senior
defenseman Gregg Raffensperger had a number of
dramatic defensive plays for ADK and led the
take away effort (2 takes). Chris Hall led the
ground ball effort for ADK with 7 and also won
7 of 14 face offs. 
West Genesee goalie John Galloway led the Central
goalie effort with 6s/1ga=86% and played half
the quarters, while Oswego’s Bay Stoker
recorded 4 saves while allowing 3 goals against
(57%) during the other two quarters. Central
won 14 of 26 face offs with Amidon taking 5 of
8 and Desko and Miller each adding 3 of 4. Lococo
won the ground ball contest with 5, while Boltus
and Greeley followed close behind with four each.
A lmost three hundred people were in attendance
for the opening game. Although the Central defense
saw relatively few strong challenges, the offense
saw extraordinary balance as more than half the
team made the score book. Six different midfielders
scored in the game, led by White with 2g and
Greeley with 2g-1a. The strong attack produced
19 of 30 points, led by Lococo (3g-2a) and Boltus
with 4g-2a. Galloway and Stoker each made a couple
of excellent saves, but the defense generally
kept the shooters a good distance from the cage.
Scoring for Adirondack were DiSarro (1g), Bradman
(1g), Knight (1g), Hall (1g), D’Amario
(1a).
Scoring for Central were Amidon (1g-1a), Blumer
(1g), Boltus (4g-2a), Greeley (2g-1a), Harmatuk
(2g-2a), Henderson (1g), Lococo (3g-2a), Miller
(1g), Rommel (1g), Venditti (1g-3a), White (2g).
Central plays Hudson Valley at 9:00 AM and Western
at 3:00 PM on Friday. Adirondack will face Western
at 11:00 AM and New York City at 5:00 PM.
The complete game sheet is available here.
The Central and Adirondack stat
totals are also available as well as the extended
stats for Central and Adirondack.
The statistics page
is located here.
|
| Game
2: Long Island-9 vs Western-6 |
(July
27, 2006)- In the 3:00 PM game,
the home town Western team played a surprisingly
close game with the perennial favorite
Long Island team; as they played a 3-3
first quarter and were tied at the end
of the first half (4-4). Long Island
pulled out in front in the second half,
outscoring Western 5-2 to take the 9-6
win in their first round game at RIT.
It took the Bratton brothers just one minute
to get themselves on the Long Island scorebook.
The twin midfielder All Americans from Huntington,
who recently made a verbal commitment to
Virginia scored 5 of the 9 Long Island goals,
starting with Rhamel’s unassisted goal
at 11:30 and Shamel’s man up goal (assisted
by Chamindade attackman Ryan Young) just
30 seconds later.
Webster Schroeder attackman, Grant Catalino
who ended the game with 3g was the first
to score for Western. His drive from the
right front gave him a one-on-one with Long
Island’s standout goalie, Adam Ghitelman
at 10:13. Penn Yan defenseman, Michael Manley
scored on a fast break clear and a pass back
from Rush-Henrietta middie Justin Rose (1g-1a)
at 6:53 to tie the game at two.
After a Western slashing penalty at 6:40,
Shamel Bratton score the second of his three
man up goals (unassisted). Catalino ended
the quarter with another unassisted goal
for Western and the quarter ended in a 3-3
tie.
As expected the Western defensive unit which
featured goalie RJ Wickham and defensemen
Manley and Drew Palmer (Webster Schroeder)
was the strongest part of the Western game.
Wickham made a number of dramatic saves and
pitched the ball out on pinpoint clearing
passes to defensive players but had some
difficulty when trying to get his midfielders
involved in the clears.
Shamel Bratton received a one minute stick
penalty at the top of the second quarter
but Western was unable to score and in fact,
ended the day 0 for 8 in man up play.
Catalino was the first to score in the second
quarter when, after dodging four Long Island
players, scored (unassisted) at 8:34 giving
Western a 4-3 lead and bringing the local
fans to the their feet at the RIT stadium.
Long Island came back to tie the game at
four when Garden City attackman Dean Gibbons
scored on a pitch from Huntington attackman
Zack Howell. Gibbons, who set a Long Island
boys single-season record with 101 goals
this spring, finished the season with 135
points, two less than a record set by Paul
Basile in 1985. Gibbons finished today’s
game with two goals on four shots on cage.
The game was tied at four at the half time
break.
Fairport attackman Mike Danylyshyn gave Western
another lead with his unassisted goal at
7:03 at the top of the second half and the
Western team held the lead until Long Island
scored three in a row, starting with Shamel
Bratton’s man up goal at 3:19, followed
by Corey Winkoff’s unassisted goal
at 2:39 and a Gibbons from Young combination
at 2:24. The run gave Long Island a 7-5 lead
at the end of the third quarter.
Justin Rose gave the Western team a spark
of encouragement when he scored with an inside
feed from Danylyshyn at 8:14, but it was
Western’s last goal of the game. Long
Island added a goal by Rhamel Bratton (unassisted)
at 4:08 when he beat Manley on a race from
one end of the field to the other. Al Kohart
scored an open net goal at 2:57 to give Long
Island a 9-6 win in round one.
The game was punctuated with numerous pushes
and heated words and 17 penalties were assessed
in the game (8 for Western and 9 for Long
Island). Shamel Bratton scored all three
of his goals in man up drives and was the
only LI player to score in man up.
Adam Ghitelman who was a NYS tournament MVP
and was Nassau player of the year as well,
is returning for his second year in the ESG
tournament. His long list of accomplishments
makes him one of the top returning seniors
in the country and although his 50% save
record in this game (6s/6ga) is far below
his season average at Cold Spring Harbor
this year, the All American demonstrated
his dramatic stopping ability and crisp clearing
passes throughout the game. Huntington goalie
Sean Brady, who helped his team go 22-0 and
win the NYS Class B championship did not
play today, but will undoubtedly demonstrate
his talents later in the tournament.
Long Island shooting was uncharacteristically
off the mark as 30 of their 54 shots were
off goal. Shamel Bratton, who led the team
in shots taken with 16 only hit the cage
5 times (but scored on 3 of those 5 shots).
The face off race was marginally won by Long
Island with 10 of 17. James Carrol won 6
of 9 and Al Kohart won 3 of 5 for Long Island.
Corning East face off man Carter Bloor took
all but one of Westerns face offs (7 of 16).
Penn Yan goalie RJ Wickham ended the game
with 15 saves and 9 goals against (63%) and
he played all but 1:07 minutes when he was
removed for a slashing penalty at the very
end of the game. Corning East goalie Thomas
Holden finished the game for Western.
Scoring for Western were Catalino (3g), Danylyshyn
(1g-1a), Manley (1g), Rose (1g-1a).
Scoring for Long Island were R Bratton (2g),
S Bratton (3g), Kohart (1g), Gibbons (2g),
Winkoff (1g).
Western will play Adirondack at 11:00 AM
and Central at 3:00 OM on Friday, while Long
Island will play New York City at 1:00 PM
and Hudson Valley at 7:00 PM. All games on
Friday will be on the artificial turn field
at RIT.
The complete game sheet is available here.
The Long
Island and Western stat
totals are also available as well as the
extended stats for Long
Island and Western.
The statistics page
is located here.
|
|
|
| Game
3: Hudson Valley-8 vs NYC-4 |
(July
27, 2006)- In the last game of the
day, it was Hudson Valley with an 8-4 win
over New York City in a game that was generally
closer than the score would indicate.
Although Hudson Valley scored the first five
goals, New York City fought back and scored the
next four goals to bring the game within one,
before HV came back with three in a row to ice
the win.
Kevin Stockel (John Jay) was the first to score
for HV on a feed from fellow attackman Brian
Douglass with 3:09 left in the first quarter.
Stockel was one of four players to score 40 or
more goals for John Jay this year and scored
4g-1a for HV in the ESG tournament in 2005. Douglass,
also from John Jay was second in scoring for
the Indians (42g-29a) who won the Class A championship
in Section 1 and lost to West Islip in the NYS
semifinals. Jay Lucas (Fox Lane - 57g-25a) added
an unassisted attack goal twenty seconds later
and Douglass scored on a feed from Stockel to
end the quarter with Hudson Valley up 3-0.
Another Stockel from Douglass score started the
second quarter followed by a goal by Douglass
(assisted by Matt Witko from Horace Greeley)
at 6:00. New York City got on the scoreboard
with an unassisted man up goal by Nicholas Weaver
(Millbrook) at 3:01 and the half ended with HV
up 5-1.
NYC continued their run with two more to start
the second half while holding HV scoreless. Forest
Sonnenfeldt (Fieldston) scored an unassisted
goal at 7:12, followed by a combination from
middie Phillip Dimin (Fieldston) from attackman
Max Vanboargondien (Lawrenceville). The third
quarter ended with Hudson Valley up 5-3.
New York City came within one goal with another
score by Dimin (assisted by Weaver), but the
goal at 11:11 was the last one for NYC as Hudson
Valley ended the game with three more goals.
First was Chris Bocklet (John Jay - 43g-24a)
from middie Sal Perrotto (North Rockland). Then,
at 4:22, midfielder Andrew Collins (Lakeland/Panas)
scored on a pass from Bocklet and attackman Myles
Monaghan (Mamaroneck) finished the game with
an assist from Hendrick Hudson’s Robbie
Bosco .
Although Hudson Valley was assessed a three minute
stick penalty at the top of the last quarter,
New York City was able to get only one goal but
finished the game with 2 man up goals on 7 opportunities.
HV was 0/4. Shooting was even with Hudson Valley
with 23 shots of which 13 were on goal and 8
were scores. New York City had 27 shots of which
17 were on, but they produced only 4 goals.
All four goalie split playing time. For New York
City, Michael Brockway (Poly Prep) had 2 saves
and 5 goals against (29%) while Ben Feldberg
(Dwight-Englewood) had 3 saves and 3 goals against
(50%). For Hudson Valley, David Sarubbi (Pleasantville)
had the second best goalie performance in round
one with 5 saves and 1 goals against (84%). Teammate
Cory Ender had 8 saves and 3 goals against (73%).
NYC’s Jacques Ward led his team’s
ground ball effort with 6 while Matt Witko led
HV with five.
Scoring for NYC were Dimin (2g), Sonnenfeldt
(1g), Vanboargondien (1a), Weaver (1g-1a).
Scoring for Hudson Valley were Bocklet (1g-1a),
Bosco (1a), Collins (1g), Douglass (2g-2a), Lucas
(1g), Monaghan (1g), Perrotto (1a), Stockel (2g-1a),
Witko (1a).
New York City will face Long Island at 1:00 PM
and Hudson Valley at 7:00 PM while Hudson Valley
will play Central at 9:00 AM and Long Island
at 7:00 PM on Friday at RIT (Turf fields)
The complete game sheet is available here.
The Hudson
Valley and New
York City stat totals are also available
as well as the extended stats for Hudson
Valley and New
York City. The statistics page
is located here.
|
|
|
|
