East boys lacrosse needs OT to defeat Sweet Home
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Andrew Duggan's game-winning goal with 49 seconds left in overtime lifted Williamsville East to a 5-4 decision over Sweet Home in a Section VI Class B boys lacrosse game at Sweet Home on Thursday, April 19.

Duggan swept behind the Sweet Home net, drew a penalty and beat Sweet Home goaltender Chris Lyon before East got into a man-up situation. Duggan had an assist earlier in the game.

The game went back and forth. East led 1-0 after the first quarter, Sweet Home went up 2-1 at halftime, and East retook the lead after the third quarter, 3-2. Chris Covel gave Sweet Home a 4-3 advantage with 4:37 left before Austin Weil of East scored his second of the game 1:03 later to force overtime. Weil also had an assist.

"It was a classic lacrosse game," said East coach Ed Greenway. "Both offenses were able to keep possession and wear down the other's defense."

"It was a game that could have gone either way," added Sweet Home coach John Faller. "It's also a league game that could come back to haunt us when it comes down to seeding for the playoffs."

Sean Burns, Colin Cardinale and Matt Zon also scored for Sweet Home.

Joe Schriever (goal, assist) and Brad Teal (goal) tallied for East.

Junior East goalie Ryan Sheehan made 14 saves. Several were point-blank stops.

"He's been a really tremendous factor in our 5-2 start," said Greenway. "He's stepped up and given us a chance to be successful."

Greenway also lauded the defensive work of Josh Roetzer and A.J. Forster.

Sweet Home goalie Chris Lyon made 19 saves. Defensive long stick midfielder Jim Cardinale scooped up 12 ground balls.

East and Sweet Home went 1-1 in their other games last week.

The Flames defeated Clarence, 8-5, on April 17 but fell 8-5 at West Seneca West on April 21. Sweet Home was defeated by Frontier, 13-2, on April 17 and edged Nichols, 6-4, on April 21.

East jumped out to a 3-1 first-quarter lead against Clarence before the Red Devils tied the game at 4-4 by halftime. Greenway said Clarence took several undisciplined penalties in the second half, which led to two man-up goals. Schriever and Weil each scored twice and assisted on another. Frost and Teal tallied a goal and assist each. Sheehan made 13 saves.

The passion that was shown by East against Sweet Home could not be created against West Seneca West.

"We probably had 17 total shots, but it was still not enough to win," said Greenway. "Six of their eight goals were unassisted. They were dodging our defensive players and beating our goalie. We didn't slide well enough… I was pleased that we went 2-1 this week, but we could have beaten West Seneca West had we worked a little harder. We didn't want it as much as they did."

A perfect example of the Flames being outworked was in ground balls. Greenway said West scooped up at least twice as many ground balls as his team.

Sheehan made 16 saves.

Ross scored twice, and Weil, Teal and Frost each had single tallies.

Sweet Home couldn't do anything right against Frontier. Covel and Zon were the only Panthers who scored.

Covel iced Sweet Home's win over Nichols with a goal with eight seconds remaining. Covel, the team's leading goal scorer with 12, finished the Nichols game with three. Zon, Eric Schnirel and Taylor Heald also tallied. Lyons made 12 saves, including a late stop to hold off Nichols.

East and Sweet Home will play three times this week, including road contests with Hamburg. Sweet Home plays the Bulldogs at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25. East is there at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. East was the only team to defeat Hamburg during league play last season. Hamburg is considered one of the top teams in Class B this season.

"We're going to have to play better," said Greenway. "I don't think we have played as well as I think we can."

East also hosted Lake Shore on Monday, April 23, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Grand Island at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25.

Sweet Home was at East Aurora at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 23 and will be home against Lake Shore at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 27.

"We've put together two consistent games back to back," said Faller. "We're still making mistakes, but I can see us coming together as a team."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com