Wildcats Tame Mustangs

Last June,both the West Genesee Wildcats and Penn Yan Mustangs had the distiction of playing for state titles on The Hofstra University carpet . The results were complete opposites as the 'Cats won title number 13 beating West Islip and the Mustangs lost in their attempt at title number 2 to Manhasset. On this beautiful Saturday afternoon, the states #7 ranked team in Class C came calling on the Wildcats in an attempt to put a dent in the 'Cats perfect season but the Wildcats prevailed behind seniors Dave Osier's and Tim Spilletts 14 point performance.

It took a little over one minute for Genny to set the tone when senior David Osier spotted Tim Spillett on the crease with a pass from behind the cage where Spillett promptly deposited the quick release for an early 1-0 lead. Osier then went on a one man stampede ripping off three unanswered goals to make a statement and to put the game away early. The first came at the 7:39 mark when Jeff Ryan passed to Osier from left to the right rear of the goal, Osier then took off towards the front and with a twisting leap ripped a left hander to the top left corner to pad the lead to 2-0. A little over a minute later, the same combination connected as Ryan found Osier's stick waving in the same plot of real estate as the last goal.

Osier in duplicate fashion cranked another left hander which hit the same spot of twine to put the score to 3-0. Not fourty seconds later and with 6:10 left, Osier again took flight from just behind the left side of goalie RJ Wickham and in mid flight unleashed a shot as he was sandwiched my Mustang defenders to up the lead to four. After shaking their pre-game and first quarter jitters, the Mustangs seemed to settle down and finally penatrated the venerated Genny D when middie Ryan Cook bounced in a shot to the left of Danny McKeon on the crease to notch their first goal of the day.End of one: Dave Osier three goals, one assist... Penn Yan, one.

With a bit of between period pep talk premonition by coach Brian Hobart that they "owned this quarter", the Mustangs kicked off the second when John Van Houten then strode in from the left side and ripped a left hander to the top right corner to cut the Cat lead in half and breathed life into the Mustang faithful a bit over two minutes into the second. Osier then assisted yet again when he found Tim Spillett with a cross crease pass which Spillett quickly redirected past Wickham for a 5-2 Wildcat lead. Spillett then got his second in a row and third of the game with 7:09 remaining when junior Rob Chamberlain flying in from the right side hit him as he cut to the cage from the left side to pad the lead to 6-2. With 3:19 remaining in the half and the Mustangs in a man-up situation, Dan McGuffie drilled a shot over the right shoulder of McKeon to again halve the Wildcats lead to end the half.

Forty-four seconds into the third, the Cats re-established their dominance after a scrum left goal line extended resulted in Brian Griffin surfacing with the ball. Griffin then tossed a cross crease pass to cousin Tim Griffin who then did a 180 degree turn and dumped in the 7th goal of the day for the 'Cats. Osier again served up an assist as he found captain Mark Cometti streaking in from the left side goal extended where he spun and bounced in a shot from 5 yards out to pad the lead to 8-3 with 5:08 remaining. Brian Griffin then buried a right-hander as he bounced in the 9th goal off the run coming in from the right of the goal with 2:49 to play. Genny's defense lead by co-captain Marc Cizenski's who seemed to enjoy playing take-away with the 'Stangs played superbly. With a clamp here, a stroke there and a poke to finish it, Ciz, Weopple, Leahy and Prosonic along with a few stuffs by McKeon, smothered and corralled the Mustangs attack thoroughly.

Dan Mesler proved the Mustangs had not rolled over when he buried a top left corner shot to cut the lead to 9-4 only 40 seconds in. The "Osier Delivery Service" served up yet another as he found Tim Spillett for his fourth goal again from the crease with another quick-stick shot to extend the lead to 10-4 with 10:15 remaining. Spillett then again tallied when he emerged from a scrum just in front of the goal and awkwardly pushed in his fifth goal of the day with 7:54 left in the game. With 5:42 to go Van Houten again tallied as he came in from the left side and bounced a left handed runner to cut the lead to 11-5. On the fast break senior middie Tom Collins flicked the ball back to Osier who again delivered when he instantly redirected the ball back out to a hard charging Kevin Courtney who buried the ball to take a 12-5 lead. With under two minutes to play Osier circling from behind ripped a shot which Wickham deflected back out front where Spillett pounced on it and flicked the ball off the turf and across the goal line for a 13-5 advantage with 1:38 left. The end of the game saw the Mustangs tally two meaningless goals by Van Houten and Mesler in the remaining 30 seconds to make the final score 13-7.