Wildcats At Daniel Hand Jamboree

The West Genesee Wildcats once again made their spring pilgramage to Madison, Connecticut for the annual Daniel Hand Jamboree on Saturday March 26th.    This years tournament was a bit abbreviated as the area was hit with five inches of snow two days earlier, most of which was gone come Saturday, however it did not allow for advance field preparations to take place at the Hammonasset State Park location. As a result all boys and girls games were moved to Daniel Hand High School's field turf and played in an alternating format with five each boys and girls teams participating and playing two games each.

The Wildcats first game of the day pitted them against the Wilton Warriors, Connecticuts' 2004 state champions.   From the outset the 'Cats dominated in all aspects of the game, quickly building a 5-2 lead at the half behind 2 goals each from senior attackers Jeff Ryan and Dave Osier in cruising on to a 10-2 victory. Although ahead at the half, Genny came out a tad rusty in both halves before settling down midway through each period and running their offense and defensive schemes as scripted. The highlight of the game came with Osier finishing a leaping re-directed feed from behind the cage from Ryan past the Wilton goalie to close out the first half scoring.

The second game for the  'Cats came against the Mountain Lakes Lakers, New Jersey's 2004 state champions.   Here the Wildcats ran into a team that was talented, disciplined, well coached and ready to make a statement. After falling behind early the 'Cats impatiently and uncharacteristically forced the issue to get on the board with most opportunities to penetrate the Laker's zone defense sailing high, wide, deflected or just tossed out of bounds.

Running a Princeton style offense that was patient and deliberate, the Lakers on the other hand waited for just the right moment to strike, and strike they did in running out to a 4 to zero lead at the half against the Genny first string and closing out the game with a 6-0 victory. To add insult to injury, one particular man-up situation for West Genesee turned into paydirt for the Lakers as senior middie Brian Griffin rocketed a shot off the cross bar which traveled past midfield to a Laker middie who was able to streak in one-on-one against senior net-minder Danny McKeon, bouncing it past him and breaking Genny's spirit. Mountain Lakes dominated most every facet of the game; ground balls, rides, clears, face-offs and the all important time of possession in cruising to the victory, one that goes down in the record books since it's been many, many years since Genny failed to score a goal in a game or scrimmage.