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Men’s Lax Blanked in Second Half; Lose 7-6
March 23, 2009
Rookie Tim Mandell scored two of Keuka's six goals.
The Keuka men’s lacrosse team got off to a great start as they held a 6-2 lead halfway through its game against Oswego State on Saturday, March 21 at Hobart and William Smith College’s McCooey Field. Unfortunately, the Storm were unable to score in the second half, while the Lakers netted five goals to escape with a one-goal (7-6) win.
The Storm now sit at 0-3 on the year while Oswego improves to 2-4 overall.
Keuka scored the game’s first goal when senior midfielder Chris Sullivan (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) took a pass from classmate TJ Radka (Waterloo, N.Y./Cayuga CC) with 7:53 remaining in the first period and registered a goal. Oswego answered just seven seconds later to tie the game, before Keuka closed out the period with three straight goals to hold a 4-1 lead at the end of the first.
Oswego opened the scoring in the second period with a goal before the Storm scored the final two goals of the half to hold a solid 6-2 lead at halftime.
The second half did not go in favor of the Storm, who despite ripping 16 shots, were unable to score a goal. Oswego netted four goals in the third quarter to tie the game at six goals a piece. Oswego’s Pat Decker then scored a man-up goal with just 20 seconds remaining in the game to give the Lakers the one-point victory.
For the game, Keuka took more shots (31-28) but the Lakers dominated in the ground ball category, picking up 27 to the Storm’s 15. Face-offs were pretty equal with Oswego winning one more (9-8).
Senior Drew Kunda (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) and rookie Tim Mandell (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) led the Storm offense with two goals a piece. Sullivan and freshman Parker Gazda (Syracuse, N.Y./ESM) each tallied one goal.
Radka finished with two helpers for the third game in a row while Sullivan and senior Ryan Notarpole (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) each dished off one assist. Sullivan won seven of his 14 face-off attempts while picking up a team-high six ground balls.
Sophomore goalie Brett Leonard (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) stopped 11 shots in goal, giving him double digit saves in all three of Keuka’s games so far. Oswego’s Judd Robinson saved 12 shots.
The Lakers received three goals from Mike Recor.
The Storm will next travel to Morrisville State in search of its first win this Wednesday, March 25 beginning at 4 pm.
