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Genny
Up-ends Little Red
The West Genesee Wildcats won their State Quarter Final
match at Coyne Field on Tuesday with a 12-3 decision over
the Sec. IV opponent Little Red of Ithaca.
The Visiting Lil Red made it interesting early, scoring
just moments into the game to take a 1-0 lead when attackman
Kevin Keller rapped around the Genny crease and dumped
a point blank shot by Cat's senior goalie Casey Rotella.
But Ithaca's upset bid was short lived as the Cats rolled
off twelve straight goals in a row.
Junior middie Alex Bily started the Genny onslaught with
a weak one handed shot as he was being flogged in front
of the Ithaca goal, but Lil Red goalie Dave Grossman failed
to control the ball and it trickled in off his stick for
a 1-1 game at 10:42.
Genny continued to pressure the Ithaca goal but didn't
have their sticks dialed in just right as several shots
from close range sailed high or wide. Cats junior attackman
Andrew Hanover had a great opportunity at 7:31 with Genny
a man-up but Grossman was equal to the task snuffing Hanover's
blast. Momentarily stemming the Wildcat onslaught the
Lil' Red tried to gain control of the early action but
Rotella made two splendid stops on junior middie Drew
Evans. The first was a stick save that Rotella went to
his knees to stab at 5:25, followed by a cross crease
lunging poke with his stick that sent the ball wide. Genny
would repay Rotella for his fine performance with their
second goal of the game at 2:46 when senior middie Pat
McCormack cut down the slot to the left of the cage, took
a feed from senior attackman Jed Bebee and beat Grossman
for a 2-1 lead. The Cats began to click in earnest with
1:38 to go when senior long stick Cheney "Hoover"
Raymond picked off a dangerous pass in front of the Genny
cage brought the ball down field and fed it to Hanover,
who found senior co-captain, middie Drew Dabrowski , who
went to his right to Bebee who finally ended the balls
journey with a trip to the back of the Ithaca net and
a 3-1 advantage.
Gennyd the second quarter with three consecutive
shots but none of them could find their way past Grossman.
The Genny defense then had an opportunity to state their
case as two consecutive penalties put the Cats at a two
man disadvantage at 6:37. But the Genny "D"
stiffened allowing no true shots and Raymond once again
rose to the occasion stealing the ball running it into
the box to release a Genny player. Ithaca continued to
add pressure when Keller found himselfagain in front
but unlike his first attempt Rotella was equal to the
task with a fine save.
With the half growing near Genny finally began the run
that their fans expected and the visiting Lil' Red feared.
Senior middie co-captain Matt Cassalia ripped a 15 yard
shot past Grossman with 2:11 left to take a 4-1 lead.
Junior middie Brian Stanton made it 5-1 with a sweeping
left handed shot off stick side to increase the lead to
5-1 with just 1:40 left to play. With 1:02 left Bily skip
passed the ball over the Ithaca defense to a wide-
Hanover who one timed the ball past Grossman for a 6-1
game. The Cats ended the half in emphatic fashion when
senior midde Bill Gleason netted the next Genny goal with
only eight seconds left, first by bowling over a defender,
then faking another before sticking it in the cage for
a 7-1 halftime lead.
Genny picked up right where they left off in the second
with Bily netting his second of the game at 11:03 to increase
the lead to 8-1. Ithaca retaliated with an attempt of
their own but once again it was Rotella stoning Evans
in front. At 7:52 Genny took advantage of a cross-checking
penalty with Hanover taking a cross cage feed from Casslia
to make it 9-1. Stanton followed wit his second just seconds
later as his 15yard bouncer found the range and the score
ballooned to 10-1. Dabrowski added the eleventh of the
game with 3:46 to play in the third with an assist to
McCormack , followed by Cassalia's second of the game
with just nine seconds left in the third as his unassisted
tally made it 12-1. Ithaca finished the game with two
third quarter goals but it wasn't enough to stop the Cats
from reaching the State semifinals. |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
final |
| West Genesse |
3 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
12 |
| Ithaca |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| Bebee 1-1, Bily 2-1, Cassalia 2-1,
Dabrowski 1-1, Gleason 0-1, Hanover 3-0, McCormack
1-2, Stanton 2-0 SAVES: Rotella 11 |
Click on an image below to
view a game highlight Quicktime movie |
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| Bily eludes his defenders and puts the
'Cats up. |
Fast break Bebee dumps one in for the
'Cats. |
Hanover rips one in from 15 yards. |
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| Casey with back-to-back saves. |
Drew with the bounce shot. |
Cassalia rocks the Little Red. |
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