Wildcats Stumble Again

The West Genesee Wildcat lacrosse team took another one on the chin in Onondaga High School League play by going down for the first time ever to the Red Hawks of Central Square. In a tale of two halves, it was the 'Cats coming out on the short end of the stick with their fourth loss of the 2006 season, a blemish not seen since the 2001 season.

The 'Cats found themselves playing on their heels right out of gate by spotting a three goal lead in the first seven minutes, two coming courtesy of Colgate-bound middie Ian Murphy. The fourth year starter ended up being a one man wrecking crew for the Red Hawks lighting up the scoreboard and scorching Genny for five of their nine goals. Genesee finally got on the board with a low shot off the turf by junior attacker Collin Donahue with 4:48 remaining in the first period. The celebration was short-lived when the Red Hawks answered shortly thereafter with a goal by middie Sean Jennings to make the score 4-1.

Genny appeared a bit flat footed the entire first half as the Hawks circled the cage feverishly and appeared to be a half step quicker than the weary 'Cats who had endured an endless weekend of four-hour practices. Perhaps a few too many hills run and drills executed had the opposite affect on a team that had lost their third game of the year the Thursday before to CNS. Sophomore Ryan Barber freed himself coming in from the top right restraining line to unleash a rocket that cut the lead in half to 4-2 with 46 ticks remaining to breath life into the Wildcats. That breath was snuffed out 28 seconds later when Murphy tallied his third of the game with a bounced shot of the carpet and past junior 'tender John Galloway for a 5-2 advantage as the first quarter ended.

The Red hawks continued running circles around the 'Cats in the second after an illegal stick penalty to begin the period gave them a 3-minute man-up window to push their lead even further. The good news was the 'Cats were able to negate much of the second half of the penalty by controlling possession and killing off what could have been an even worse scenario. The bad news was Mr. Murphy was up to his tricks and less than twenty seconds into the quarter zipped a shot past Galloway to push the lead to 6-2. Consecutive goals by Jennings and Bryan Buckley from 15+ yards out surprised the Wildcats and delighted the home town faithful as the score now stood at an inconceivable 8-2 with four minutes remaining in the half. A miracle was now needed. Something to wake the 'Cats from their slumber and the shock of what was once again happening before their eyes.

Sophomore middie Luke Cometti came running off the top right side and and ripped off a windmill shot that was initially deflected or knocked down by goaltender Aaron Plyter. Plyter lost sight of the ball as it hit the turf at his feet and reacted a second too late as the ball rolled slowly across the goal line in front of his eyes to cut the lead to five at 8-3. As demonstrated for all of the season thus far, Galloway again proved deserving of the teams most valuable player award by coming up with multiple stops en route to a sixteen save performance.

It took some time to stem the tide the Red Hawks had built but the 'Cats seemed up to the task after a half time adjustment and motivational speech by coach Mike Messere. Junior middie Aaron Printup advancing straight towards the cage from 20 yards out found senior middie Scott Cost unguarded 10 yards off to his right with a pass. Without missing a beat, Cost snapped a right-handed shot to the bottom right corner to cut the deficit in half at 8-4 with 5:32 remaining. With the bleeding seemingly stopped, the 'Cats reeled off one of their patented fast break plays when senior middie Matt Grogan scooped up a loose ball in the defensive zone and headed up field. Within seconds and three other Wildcats touching it, the ball ended up in the cross of senior attack Roby Farchione posted off the left goal post who flicked in the quick-stick shot to cut the deficit to 8-5 with 6.7 seconds left in the quarter.

The Wildcats now seemed to have found their former form and kicked it into high gear to start off the final stanza. Galloway sparked the comeback with an arching 40 yard pass to midfield hitting junior attacker Adam Mazzoni who was cutting diagonally across the 50 yard line. Mazzoni hauled in the pass and immediately turned to find junior attacker Brian Donahue five yards off the crease where he quickly deposited the feed for a goal two minutes into the quarter and like that...we had a game again. With 8 minutes remaining, Cometti tallied his second of the evening in similar form to his first, only this time the ball popped the back of the net over the left shoulder of Plyter instead of rolling harmlessly at his feet to cut the Red Hawk lead to one at 8-7.

The 'Cats then went on the the offensive, both controlling possession and ripping shot after shot on Plyter in an effort to knot the game at eight goals a piece. Sooner or later one was going to find pay dirt when Mazzoni recorded his second assist of the evening when from behind the cage he fed Brian Donahue for his second goal of the night to tie the game with 3:12 remaining. Genny then peppered Plyter with numerous shots, some high and some wide, in an effort to put the final nail in the previously unbelievable comeback. But it was Murphy again, the nemesis and thorn in the 'Cats side all night that hammered the final nail in the game when he ripped a low shot to the left corner with 1:52 remaining. The 'Cats had one more chance to draw even but lost possession and that was all the Hawks needed as they killed the clock for the remaining minute and left with their first win in eleven tries over the Wildcats.