'Cats Capture 11th State Title

Dabrowski scores game winner as time expires



It had been four years since the West Genesee boy’s varsity lacrosse team (21-2) had made the trek to Hofstra University on Long Island to compete for the New York State High School Lacrosse Championship. In their way to an unprecedented 11th title stood the North Port Tigers (21-1) from Sec. 11 in Suffolk County, the defending State Champions who were riding a 33 game unbeaten streak.

Co-captained by Mike and Mark Conklin and led by the senior close defense of Rob Lemos, Dean Mancini and Chad Clark the Cats had entered the 2002 season with the goal of reaching the Island. But an early season loss to Penn Yan and a blowout to Henninger left many of the CNY lacrosse community doubting the Cats ability to accomplish their mission. However Genny refused to fold and proceeded to take apart Henninger in the Sec. III Championship 18-8 then mowed through Ithaca and Fairport for another shot at the title.

The weather on the Island was just a precursor to the perfection that lie ahead for the Class A Championship title tilt, a sun-drenched field with a slight breeze made playing conditions ideal. As the fans began to fill the stadium seats the Cats took the field, not only carrying the burden of a four-year dry spell but also trying to stave off an Island sweep of the State Championships as Skaneateles and Carthage had fallen earlier in the day. Lining up for the National Anthem Genny then doffed their helmets to sport newly shorn heads with a vast array of designs, then it was time to face-off.

Junior middie, All-American face-off specialist Matt Cassalia won theng draw and brought Genny fans to their feet as he sped to the goal and fired theng shot only to be stopped by Tiger goalie Rob Drost. Northport then wasted little time introducing themselves to the Wildcats as they netted two goals in less than a minute. Bret Cartesky struck first at 11:01 as he sped from behind the cage and fired a bounce shot into the upper right corner of the goal past junior goalie Casey Rotella. All-American Hopkins bound middie Kyle Dowd put the Port ahead 2-0 with a left handed laser at 10:42 that left the Cats reeling.

Sophomore attackman Andrew Hanover finally restored some order at 10:20 as he left his defender behind the cage slipped in front of the goal and put a shot past Drost into the upper corner to cut the lead to 2-1. Genny threatened to tie the game on the ensuing face-off as Cassalia won the draw and found junior attackman Drew Dabrwoski widein front, but Drost turned Dabrowski’s shot aside with a right foot save. The Tigers Drew Thompson turned the Cats near miss into the Islanders advantage firing a shot from 15 yards in front of the cage giving them three goals on three shots and a 3-1 lead with 9:50 remaining.

Genny refused to fold and answered at 7:54 with Hanover assisting to senior middie, co-captain Mike Conklin who was widein front decreasing the Tigers advantage to 3-2. Dowd retaliated with his second of the game with a leaping bounce shot from 20 yards out and the Port leapt back in front by a 4-2 lead with 7:15 left. The break neck pace continued as the Cats cut the lead to 4-3 with Cassalia fending off a blow from a Northport defender and finding Hanover wideand deposited his shot for his second goal of the game. Russ Mitchinson then snubbed the Genny rally when he took a pass from Dowd at the 6:22 mark and drilled a bouncer past Rotella giving the Tigers a two goal cushion 5-3.

Conklin and Hanover each had attempts at the Northport goal but Drost turned Conklin away and Hanover found himself on the carpet as he turned the corner only to get crushed by a Northport defender. As had happened so often in the early portion of the contest one teams inability to score seemed to lead to the other team getting an attempt on goal. That was the case with Drew Thompson who found himself wide10 yards from the goal and unleashed a shot that Rotella smothered for his first save of the game with 3:40 remaining. Rotella’s save led to a Genny resurgence as Cassalia and Conklin both attacked the Tigers cage only to be turned aside by Drost. Rotella and Drost ended the first quarter trading saves ending a first quarter that was played at a break neck pace and saw eight goals scored in a 5:38 span.

The second quarter began ominously for Cat fans when Cassalia crumpled to the carpet after sustaining a shot to the head while pursuing a ground ball. With Cassalia convalescing on the sideline Genny began to push the pace as senior middie, co-captain Mark Conklin and Dabrowski teamed up for a give and go that just went wide of the cage, then Dabrowski followed with a spinning shot in front that just missed the mark. Senior middie Matt O’Connell finally found the answer that the Cats sought to Drost with a right handed bullet the nestled itself in the cage to make the score 5-4 at the 8:20 mark, it was to be first of a Cats three goal run. The ensuing face-off saw the Genny’s close defense withstand over a minute of Northport offensive pressure but the Cats refused to buckle allowing them to tie the game at 5-5. Senior middie Devin Burgoon’s goal came at 5:43 with a pass from senior middie Andrew Sugar, Burgoon beat his man one on one and fired a shot past Drost for the games first tie. Mike Conklin then gave Genny their first lead of the contest with a solo tally from the left side of the cage and the Cats led 6-5 with only 5:14 left in the half. Northport looked to even the game at six all with just 2:28 remaining in the half when Cartesky snuck free on the end of a Northport fast break only to be turned aside with a huge stick save from Rotella. Rotella would come up with another fantastic save with just over a minute left when Northport’s Drew Thompson found himself all alone in front only to be turned aside again by Rotella.

The third quarter saw Cassalia return after medical clearance and the Cats would once again be at full strength. Genny took advantage of a loose ball in front of the Northport cage after Cassalia had carried it in only to lose the ball from his cross. But the ball squirted away from the scrum and Hanover found himself alone in front of Drost and stuck the ball in the goal for a 7-5 lead at 9:47. The Cats would then take a near tragedy and turn it into a triumph after Lemos made an amazing check that saw the stick fly out of Thompson’s hands, they were then unable to clear the ball and forced Rotella to make a save from point blank range. But Rotella coolly collected the ball in his cross and started the clear which ended up with a Mike Conklin goal with an assist to Dabrowski and the Cats had outscored the Tigers 5-0 to take an 8-5 lead.

Northport wasted little time in gathering back the momentum when attackman Matt Walsh stepped in front of a Chad Clark clearing pass and fired the ball into to an empty cage to cut the lead to 8-6 and start a four goal run. The Tigers then set up camp in the West Genesee end after capturing the ensuing face-off and fired three shots wide of the cage before Russ Mitchinson snuck behind the Genny defense took a drop pass from Dowd and tucked it in the lower corner to narrow the advantage to 8-7 with 5:27 to go. Thompson then netted the tying goal 8-8 with a sweeping right hander with just 2:44 left in the third and once again the Cats found themselves back on their heels. With just under two minutes to go the Port’s Matt Donovan found himself wideafter a Genny defender fell and ripped a shot that beat Rotella but bounded harmlessly away off the post. Genny had the last third quarter chance when Drost nearly let an O’Connell shot dribble past him, but lunged back to snare the ball while on his backside and save it from crossing the line.

Northport finally took the lead back from West Genesee with 9:57 left in the game with another Thompson from Dowd combination as Thompson’s shot snuck in off Rotella’s shoe tops giving the Tigers a 9-8 lead. With 3:12 left to go in the game the Tigers looked to increase their lead and steal the game but Rotella came up big with three saves in a row. Genny then took the momentum and turned it into a goal from Hanover, his fourth of the game with an assist to Cassalia and both teams were tied at 9-9 with just 2:31 to go. With neither team able to make a final run Northport finally gained poseesion and called a time out with 1:52 left in the game.

Thompson started with the ball on the left sideline and fed to Dowd who swept to his right with O’Connell in front of his face and shot the ball wide. With a 1:04 to go in the contest Walsh left the West Genesee defense behind as the Genny defender tripped on the back of the cage and faced down Rotella at point blank range only to have his shot sticked away setting up the play of the game. With the Cats on the clear Messere refused to call a time out and Genny took possession with O’Connell handling the ball. Twenty yards from the Northport cage O’Connell began to weave through defenders looking for the final shot. With four seconds to go he unleashed his patented right hander as Drost came out to cut down the angle, only to hear the dull thud of the crossbar. However Drew Dabrowski had positioned himself in front of the cage, steadied himself on his tip toes perilously close to the crease and dumped the ball in for the game winner with no time remaining on the clock, giving the Cats an unprecedented 11th State title.

West Genesee scoring:

Andrew Hanover 4 goals, 1 assist,Mike Conklin 3 goals, Drew Dabrwoski 1 goals, 1 assist, Matt O’Connell 1 goal, Devin Burgoon 1 goal, Matta Cassalia 2 assists, Saves Casey Rotella 21.

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