In today's State Western Semi-Finals, the Braves defeated Jamesville-DeWitt 12-6; Orchard Park defeated Ithaca 8-7 and LaFayette defeated Penn Yan 10-6. The Quakers look for their first Championship after losing to Northport in 2001 and Ward Melville in 2000. LaFayette looks for their third Championship after wins in 2005 and 2003 and a loss to Lynbrook in 2000.

During today's contests, each team was awarded a sportsmanship award as voted on by their team mates. The state sponsored awards were given to Artie Marrapese (Orchard Park), Gabe Mendola (Ithaca), Derek Bennett (LaFayette), Ethan Kamholtz (Penn Yan), Will Johnson (Canandaigua) and Mac Keehfus (Jamesville-DeWitt).

LaFayette 10 - Penn Yan 6 

 --  Although the score was close, LaFayette came out strong to defeat Penn Yan 10-6.  The Lancers continued their winning streak and perfect season moving to 23-0. LaFayette outscored the Mustangs 8-3 in the first half and held on through 3 Penn Yan goals in the fourth quarter.

The Lancers scored the first four goals of the game with John Greeley, Gehnew Printup and Miles Thompson (2) scoring goals. James Turner and Jeremy Beresovoy each had one assist. The fourth goal, scored by Thompson (assisted by Turner) began with a Tim Dyer take. The Penn Yan defenseman stripped the ball and picked up his own ground ball; then looking up field attempted to outlet the ball to midfield.  Turner intercepted the ball and wasted no time in finding Thompson open on the crease for the goal. Penn Yan added two more goals before the end of the quarter with Adam Trombley driving straight into the goal at 5:19 and Trombley assisting Preston Maciejewski from behind the cage at 1:41. The Lancers led 4-2 after the first quarter.

In the third quarter, John Greeley added his second and third goals of the game with two unassisted drives to the goal.  On the second goal Greeley was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct for actions following the goal and Penn Yan struck back with their lone goal of the quarter with Trombley finding Cole Castle on the outside during a man-up opportunity. LaFayette scored two more goals before the close of the half at 1:18 and 0:35.

At 1:18 the best goal of the day was scored by Nate Beresovoy and assisted by Lyle Thompson. Thompson passed the ball inside to the center of the crease where Beresovoy caught the ball and was laid out by two Penn Yan defensemen. That could have been the end of the story, however, as he was falling, Beresovoy continued the shot and put the ball into the upper corner for the goal.  It was one of the most impressive feats of athleticism in the tournament thus far. The final goal came with another straight dodge from Lyle Thompson.  The score was 8-3 at the half.

LaFayette scored the only goal of the third quarter and the first goal of the fourth quarter to finish up their scoring with 9:55 remaining in the game.  Penn Yan added the last three goals at 7:34, 2:34 and 0:05.  Although the Mustangs attempted to pull a last minute comeback the Lancers were too strong to allow it.

Lyle Thompson (6 of 11) and Jacob Ternosky (5 of 7) combined for a 60% day at the face-off draw. Lyle Thompson led in ground balls with six. John Linnan (6) and Brendan Minor (4) led for the Mustangs.  In the cage, Ethan Kamholtz finished with 9 saves for the Mustangs. Chris Klaiber had a strong day for LaFayette with a 70% day in the cage (14 saves).

LaFayette moves on to face the Manhasset (Section Eight) in Saturday's State Finals. Manhasset defeated Putnam Valley 16-3 in the Eastern Championship match today. 

Scoring for LaFayette were Greeley (3g-1a), Miles Thompson (3g), James Turner (1g-1a), Lyle Thompson (1g-1a), Gehnew Printup (1g), Nate Beresovoy (1g) and Jeremy Beresovoy (1a).

Scoring for Penn Yan were Adam Trombley (1g-3a), John Linnan (2g), Cole Castle (2g) and Preston Maciejewski (1g-1a).

For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.

Orchard Park 8 - Ithaca 7  

 --  In the closest game of the day, Orchard Park held on to their early led to defeat Ithaca 8-7.  The Quakers led 7-3 at halftime and nearly lost it late in the fourth quarter with Ithaca scoring their final goal with 1:29 remaining and what looked like plenty of time to tie up the game. The Little Red had three finals shots on the cage in the final minute with a save by Ryan Cole with 0:02 remaining to cement the win for Orchard Park.

Ithaca scored the first goal (in fact their first two goals) during man-up. Robbie Young scored only 35 seconds into the game. Torin Varn shot the ball, which missed the cage, and Young scooped it up and put it into the back of the net. Orchard Park's Artie Marrapese scored his first of four goals with an outside shot to the top corner. Varn and Marrapese led their teams in shots with 12 and 17 respectively. The third penalty of the game was also scored on, but it was Orchard Park scoring during their own man-down with a fast break goal from Jeff Tundo. Tundo was held to that lone goal and one assist during the contest. The Quakers added two more goals in a six second span. Marrapese added his second with a sweep towards the crease followed by Mike Moran scoring on his own ground ball off a face-off fast break. Moran finished the game 8 of 10 at the face-off. The Quakers led 4-2 after the first quarter.

Orchard Park continued their scoring adding two more to make a five goal unanswered streak. Tundo took a hard shot at the cage with 10:11 remaining that was deflected by Sean Rimmer into the upper corner for the fifth Quaker goal. The sixth was scored by Marrapese with another sweep and side-arm shot that ended up on the top shelf. Ithaca interjected their own goal with an unassisted goal by Young. Young drove from behind the cage and split the defense and the crease for the goal. The final goal of the half was scored when Marrapese passed the ball to Kevin Collins on the crease. At halftime the Quakers were sitting on a comfortable 7-3 lead, however, the Little Red were getting ready to come out strong in the second half.

In the second half the Quakers had trouble hitting the cage. Orchard Park took 12 shots with only 3 on cage and 1 goal. The Little Red, conversely, took 14 shots with 10 on cage and 4 goals. Ithaca scored the only two goals of the third quarter to cut their deficit to 2 goals. Both goals were scored by Evan Thomas with perimeter shots and were assisted by Gabe Mendola and Riely Lasda. The Little Red kept plugging along and scored the opening goal of the fourth quarter 1:01 into play. Evan Thomas drove from behind the cage in a high arc and drew the double high off the crease. After that Young cut in behind him and caught them ball alone on the crease for the goal.

Ithaca had come back to within one goal. Half way through the quarter Orchard Park extended their lead back to two goals with Mike Moran and Artie Marrapese hooking up for the goal. The final goal of the game back with 1:29 remaining; Garrett Venuto cut towards the inside of the crease and after having his defenseman slip, repositioned and put the shot in the back of the net. The Little Red had three more shots after the goal, all coming from Varn and only the last shot hitting the cage.

In the cage, Ryan Cole finished with 7 saves (50%) for Orchard Park and AJ Fiore finished with 7 saves (47%) for Ithaca.

Orchard Park moves on to face the West Islip (Section Eleven) in Saturday's State Finals. West Islip defeated Yorktown 13-8 in the Eastern Championship match today. 

Scoring for Orchard Park were Artie Marrapese (4g-1a), Mike Moran (1g-1a), Jeff Tundo (1g-1a), Sean Rimmer (1g) and Kevin Collins (1g).

Scoring for Ithaca were Robbie Young (4g), Evan Thomas (2g-1a), Garrett Venuto (1g), Torin Varn (1a), Riely Lasda (1a) and Gave Mendola (1a).

For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.

Canandaigua 12 - Jamesville-DeWitt 6  

 --  Canandaigua had difficultly starting, but after scoring four goals in each of the final three quarters the Braves defeated Jamesville-DeWitt 12-6 to move on to the Class B State Finals. This is the first time that Canandaigua had made the State finals. Jamesville-DeWitt was held to one goal in each of the first three quarters and added three in the final quarter.

Marshall Johnson was the key to the Braves' success. Johnson finished 17 of 19 at the face-off (89.5%) with 16 ground balls. His individual effort was key for the Braves in setting the pace of the game. In addition he also added one goal.

The first quarter almost appeared to be a different game then the rest of the contest. In the first quarter J-D scored the only goal with Jake Bratek scoring with a straight drive down the center during a fast-break. Gordon Gehring, of J-D, was phenomenal in the cage, making 7 saves in the opening quarter and holding the Braves scoreless. He ended the game with 14 saves (54%).  Shooting was a serious problem for the Red Rams; Canandaigua finished the game with over twice the number of shots as JD (40-19). Gehring faced 26 shots on cage from the Braves.

In the second quarter the Braves began the onslaught, scoring the first three goals of the quarter with unassisted goals from Tom LaCrosse, Johnson and Deven Alves. Canandaigua had 11 of their 12 goals unassisted with Brian Scheetz having the only assist. Key to their scoring success was the position from which the Braves started their drives. As the second quarter began, the Braves began to attack the cage from behind and the results were positive. J-D's second goal was scored when Colin Short came down on a fast-break and hit Mac Keehfus at 0:16 remaining in the half. 0:16 was more than enough time for Johnson on the face-off; after picking up his own ground ball, Johnson passed the ball up to Bryan Peck on the crease. Peck dodged the defenseman and put the ball in the back of the net 10 seconds after the face-off. The score was 4-2 at halftime.

Canandaigua continued throughout the third and fourth quarters amassing an 11-3 lead before J-D came back scoring three of the last four goals in the final quarter. With 3:54 remaining, J-D scored three more goals including a goal with 0:01 remaining on the clock. Jeffrey Sciera scored the final goal on a fast-break with the assist from Short. Short led the Red Rams with 3 assists.

Nick King, who celebrated his birthday today, played the majority of the game for the Braves, making 5 saves and 5 goals against. Anthony DeLeo played the final minute with only a goal against. Parker Weeks took the final two face-offs for the Braves going 1-1.

Canandaigua moves on to face the Niskayuna (Section Two) in Saturday's State Finals. Niskayuna defeated Sayville 15-8 in the Eastern Championship match today.

Scoring for Canandaigua were Tom LaCrosse (3g), Brian Scheetz (2g-1a), Tanner Scharr (2g), Deven Alves (2g), Bryan Peck (2g) and Marshall Johnson (1g).

Scoring for Jamesville-DeWitt were Jeffrey Sciera (3g), Colin Short (3a), Mac Keehfus (2g) and Jake Bratek (1g).

For a more complete look at the numbers, check out the full statistics.