Wildcats Sink Lakers 11-7

The West Genesee Wildcats won their seventh in a row 3-0(7-0) with a second consecutive come from behind victory over Class C foe Skaneateles Lakers.
Although a Class C team the Lakers consistently give West Genesee all they can handle as evidenced by their early 3-0 lead over the Cats who appeared to be asleep on an early morning 10:30 start. Dan Didio caused first damage for the Lakers with a goal at 10:23 which was bullet from close range over senior Wildcat goalie Casey Rotella’s head for a 1-0 lead.

The Cats who won nine of ten draws in the first half were unable to control the ball with any frequency and turnovers led to the next two Skaneateles goals.
Chris Doctor was the next Laker to make the Cats pay for their sloppiness with two goals in a row. The first a seeing eye bullet that lodged just under the crossbar for a 2-0 advantage at 5:55. Then at 5:10 Doctor struck again as he slid into the crease and dumped a shot past Rotella for a 3-0 lead. Genny face-off advantages finally began to payoff as a string of three straight wins led to three goals. Senior midfielder Jeff Murphy who has come into his own of late got one back for the Cats with an unassisted goal at 3:37 to cut the lead to 3-1.

Senior attackmates Jed Bebee and co-captain Drew Dabrowski combined two consecutive times to cut the lead to 3-2 as Bebee hit Dabrowski who cut in from the left side of the cage at 3:24. Then it was Bebee to Dabrowski again with just 50 seconds left in the quarter to tie the game at 3-3. Senior co-captain, face-off middie Matt Cassalia almost gave the Cats their first lead once again winning theng face-off in the second quarter, went straight to the goal only to be stopped by Laker sophomore goalie Bill Delaney. Senior middie Bill Gleason gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at the 9:49 mark with a shot that nestled in the top right corner of the goal with an assist from junior middie Alex Biley giving the Cats a 4-3 advantage.

Didio looked to get his second of the day for the Lakers only to be denied by a great save from Rotella at 3:17. It was Rotella’s excellent job of hustling minutes later as he won a race to the ball as it crossed the end line that helped to set up the next Genny goal. Bebee netted his first of the day after two helpers with an assist to Bily with just 1:37 left in the half to give Genny a 5-3 lead. The play began when Bily drove to the Skaneateles goal faked a pass to junior attackman Andrew Hanover the found Bebee all alone at the side of the Laker cage. The Lakers took a goal back at 7:23 of the third with a bounce shot that eluded Rotella to cut the lead to 5-4.

The combination of Bebee and Drabowski appeared to have gotten a goal back at 6:19 but Dabrowski was ruled to be in the crease. The Lakers took adavantage of the miscue as the tide appeared to be headed in their direction on a goal from John Marino who was widein front of the Genny goal. But it was Bebee again who came to the rescue with a left- handed goal at 3:37 with an assist to Cassalia.
Dan Hunt put the Lakers right back in the thick of it with their sixth goal of the game at 1:58 clearing the ball past the midfield and navigating his way through most of the Genny team. Cassalia answered for the Cats as he scored while being mugged in front of the goal to give Genny a 7-6 lead with just 1:15 left in the third.

Rotella came up huge again early in the fourth when he closed the door on John Marion who was wide in front of he goal. Rotella’s save was turned into a fast break where Bily converted it into a goal for an 8-6 lead at 10:17. Delany kept the contest close for the Lakers make two big saves in a row on Bebee and senior middie Pat McCormick. Junior middie Brian Stanton did find the range for Genny with a beautiful goal as he cut to the cross cage took a pass from Dabrowski and put it in a widenet for a 9-6 advantage.

The Cats finished it up with two goals less than a minute apart as Cassalia netted his second of the game bulling through the Laker defense with an assist from Hanover.
Followed by Murphy’s second of the game with another helper from Hanover with 8:05 left to play to put the Cats ahead at 11-6. Skaneateles made one last run with a goal with 1:01 left to play but their valiant effort fell short with a 11-7 loss to the Cats.