Wildcats Bounce Braves 11-7 for 15th State Title

The West Genesee Wildcats boys varsity lacrosse team captured their 15th New York State lacrosse championship with a come from behind 11-7 victory over the Syosset Braves from Nassau County on the carpet at Hofstra University in Long Island. It was the Cats seventh straight appearance in the title game with the last two ending in 7-6 and 9-4 losses to West Islip, which was upset in the quarter finals by Syosset.

The Cats began the game looking like the experienced team capitalizing just 18 seconds in 1-0 when senior co-captain, midfielder Henry “Luke “ Cometti stepped onto the field from the substitution box and ripped a right - hander past Brave’s goalie Evan Cohen. West Genny then weathered two straight man down penalties before senior midfielder Tim Besio cut down the crease and took a feed from junior attackman Jordan Rogers and found twine behind Cohen for a 2-0 first quarter advantage.

As the second quarter began the Syosset newcomers began to shed their first time championship status, by running off five unanswered goals. It started as Eddie Loftus came from behind cage right and leapt in the air beating junior goalie Steve Mahle to halve the lead 2-1. Jeff Cohen followed with a similar move from the opposite shedding his Wildcat defender and beating Mahle top left corner to knot the game at 2-2. Jared Leverne orchestrated the next Braves goal, drawing a Cat double team before dishing off to teammate Loftus who drilled a screen shot past Mahle’s stick side giving the Islanders their first lead at 3-2.

With momentum and confidence sliding to the Syosset sideline it was Adam Wachler also drew a double team then found Matt Albert who was all alone in front of Mahle to make the score 4-2. Wachler again would victimize the Cats a moment later as he waltzed down the crease unattended before firing a shot off-stick side for a 5-2 lead. Wachler then attempted to add another but this time was turned aside as Mahle went low to smother his shot. The Cats did have one final opportunity to cut into the lead, but Cometti’s last second shot ricocheted off the cross bar and the half ended with the Cats being held scoreless for nearly 19 minutes.

The third quarter began where the second left - off as Wachler beat his defender then Mahle with 8:15 left to go for a 6-2 lead. With a seemingly insurmountable lead and the momentum on their side to stay, the Cats, resurgent all year began to turn the tide, showing why they were one of the most explosive second half teams of the year ripping off eight straight goals.

The comeback began 6-3 with 5:39 left on a goal by sophomore midfielder ‘Cali’ John Glesener who drilled a right hander past Cohen with an assist from senior co-captain attackman Ryan Barber. At 5:26 it was Besio with a great cross crease feed to a wide open Barber who put it in the open right side of the net to cut the lead to 6-4. Fending off two straight penalties Syosset looked to make it to the final quarter with the lead in tact but the Cats ended that thought with Glesner’s second goal 6-5 with 39 seconds to go, as he collected a post shot off the crosse of Besio. Rogers then completed the comeback 6-6 as he whistled a shot past Cohen’s right side as time had nearly expired, creating a final twelve minute period to decide the Class A championship.

The Cats continued to flourish in the final quarter which began at 10:50 with the most prolific goal of the day complements of Ryan Barber. The senior captain who spent the majority of the season sidelined with a broken foot rose to the occasion as he crawled from the carpet, pummeled by two defenders, drawing a flag, then scrambled to his feet, took several steps and dove towards the goal putting a shot over Cohen’s shoulder for a 7-6 advantage.

Reeling with the Cats comeback, Braves superstar and Harvard bound attackman Jeff Cohen nearly tied the game as he bulled past senior defender Ben Waldron, who had completely shut him down all day, but managed to slip a shot on the Wildcat goal, but it was Mahle coming up equal to the task with a right leg save. Genny then took full advantage of Mahle’s play as Barber and Rogers connected with 6:59 left to make it 8-6 as Rogers converted the skip-pass from Barber bouncing past Cohen’s left side.
Cohen continued to keep the Braves close with his second goal a bouncer with 6:00 to go cutting the lead to 8-7.

With 5:17 to go senior attackman Mike Fetterly made it 9-7 whirling around the right side of the cage and tucking a shot under the cross bar. With the Braves reeling from the Genny onslaught a time-out was called and they nearly made it pay off. It was Jeff Cohen who unleashed the shot that caught the right pipe, the ball then bounded in the air only to be corralled by Mahle who then started a fast break which was capitalized on by senior long-stick midfielder Jack Kennedy, whose off-side hip high shot found the back of the cage giving the Cats a 10-7 and putting the dagger in the Braves. Game MVP Rogers added the final goal 11-7 with just 1:35 to go to cement the Cats 15 and probably most gratifying championship season in recent history.