WG vs Henninger section 3 playoff

Wildcats Claw Black Knights in Playoff Action

The West Genesee boys lacrosse team continued to head in the right direction as they look to capture the 2003 Section III title with a humbling 15-4 semi-final victory over the Henninger Black Knights at Coyne Field. Junior attackman Andrew Hanover got the Cats moving early with an unassisted goal as he used deft footwork on the crease to slide by his man and nestle a shot over the right shoulder of Henninger's Tim Garback for a 1-0 lead at the 10:50 mark. Genny nearly missed a two- goal advantage at 9:42 when senior middie Pat McCormack's mid range shot beat Garback but bounced off the lower right goal post. Henninger would then used a Genny turnover in their offensive end to get their first controlled possession of the game which culminated with a great save from senior Cat goalie Casey Rotella who turned away a Jeff Rommel point blank shot on the crease.

The Cats increased their lead to 2-0 with 4:43 left in the first on Hanover's second of the game when he ripped the rope behind Gerback with an assist from junior middie Alex Bily. Henninger's first goal came after a controversial call that saw several Genny defenders swarm a Black Knights player trying to advance the ball up the field. West Genny knocked the ball out of the Henninger players stick but the Knights were awarded the ball. Nick Gatto then wasted no time cutting the lead to 2-1 after the missed call with an unassisted goal at 3:28 left in the quarter. On the next face-off Genny was whistled again for a loose ball push as both teams battled for the ball so it was Rotella who saved the Cats as he tracked and deflected a dangerous bounce off of Rommel's stick.

Henninger's Garback was equal to the task when senior co-captain attackman Drew Dabrowski picked off a ball that deflected of a Henninger defenders stick, turned and fired on the crease only to be met with an acrobatic lunging save. With 58 seconds to go Garback would not be as fortunate when Dabrowski intercepted a Black Knight's clear attempt and could only watch as Bily scorched the net giving Genny a 3-1 lead.
Senior middie Keil Moore would follow Bily's lead with 21 ticks remaining as he hammered home a bullet from 20 yards out giving the Wildcats a 4-1 first quarter advantage.

Andrew Carducci began the second quarter with a goal for Henninger that slipped between his feet just a minute and half into the second stanza making the score 4-2 and it looked as if the Black Knights may be gaining momentum. But the Cats would answer with Henninger serving a thirty second hold penalty. Dabrowski loped to his right behind the cage before redirecting a cross to senior attackman Jed Bebee on the opposite of the cage who put the ball past Garback before he could turn around and a 5-2 lead. Hanover added his third of the game at 6:48 with an assist to McCormack as the Cats took advantage of their tenacious ride forcing a Black Knight turnover and increasing their lead to 6-2.

Once again the Cats were penalized for their physical play as they lost two straight possessions to loose ball pushes and the Knights would take advantage.
Henninger used the turnover to pepper Rotella with shots. The first resulted in a left leg save followed by another point blank stop, but the rebound squirted loose and Anthony Ventresca cut lead to 6-3 with 4:22 left in the half. Senior co-captain Matt Cassalia answered Henninger's goal with his first of the game when he slid into the crease unguarded took a pass from McCormack and placed a left hander past Garback for a 7-3 lead with 2:31 to play. With just over two minutes left in the half Genny turned up their defensive pressure as Henninger tried to close out the half with a score.

Junior defenseman Michael Malone showed the Cats renewed commitment to defense when he tracked Henninger's Nick Gatto from the far right side of the field to the opposite goal post before unceremoniously dumping him to the ground as his shot sailed high and wide. Rottella followed Malone's inspired play with another stellar stop as Carducci freed himself in front and shot across his body left to right only to have it picked off in mid flight. Genny nearly dented the nets with two seconds left when Dabrowski flung a pass from the left sideline across the front of the cage to Hanover who was left all alone. Hanover put the ball past Garback just as the horn sounded and the goal was disallowed. However after viewing the video taped replay on the WGLAX.com video camera it clearly showed the back of the net bulging before the horn had sounded (see video below).

Gennyd up the third with a goal by McCormack who rifled a shot past Garback as Bily backed his man near the crease before dishing the ball off for an 8-3 lead.
Dabrowski struck again at 10:14 when he grabbed a loose ball in front while all alone and made the score 9-3. After another fine save by Rottella it was Dabrowski again who stirred things up for the Cats when he lambasted a Henninger defender on the sideline separating him from the ball which enabled Hanover to get a shot on goal but fired wide. Junior middie Paul Stanton followed the near miss with first of the night as he beat his man straight down to the crease netting a shot and making it 10-3.
With 6:31 left Genny made it 11-3 when Hanover beat his man with nifty left to right fake before distributing to Dabrowski who singed the net with a bullet for a 12-3 advantage.

With game clearly out of reach and just two plus minute remaining in the quarter Henninger's Michael McDonald pulled one of the cleverest stick fakes off the 2003 season leaving every West Genny defender accept Rottella headed in the wrong direction. Trying to vent some frustration McDonald fired a wicked head high shot but Rottela reacted perfectly and deflected the shot away. The Cats closed out the game with three final goals the first from Bily at 4:06. Junior attackman Dan Balestra made it 14-3 with 3:55 to go with an assist to junior middie Jake Moulton. Moulton then closed out the Genny scoring with the Cats 15th of the night with an assist to senior middie Michael Paul Solamon.

	1	2	3	4	final
West Genesse	4	3	5	3	15
Henninger	1	2	0	1	4
Hanover 3-0, Dabrowski 2-3, Bily 2-2, McCormack 2-1, Moulton 1-1, Balestra 1-0, Bebee 1-0, Cassalia 1-0, Moore 1-0, Stanton 1-0, Solamon 0-1 SAVES: Rotella 8, Cummings 1
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