Boys lacrosse
Amherst needs overtime to defeat Sweet Home
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Amherst's Dan Lawson scored five times against Sweet Home, but his last tally lifted the Tigers to a 10-9 overtime home victory on Tuesday, May 1.

Lawson's last goal came at 3:05 into the extra session.

Lawson's teammate, Casey Rich, outmuscled Sweet Home's Matt Zon for the opening faceoff of overtime and Amherst held possession until Lawson scored. Rich finished with two goals.

"It's tough to win if you don't have possession of the ball," said Sweet Home coach John Faller.

Sweet Home forced overtime when Eric Schnirel's shot beat Amherst goalie Conor McNally low with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

Sweet Home led, 5-4, at halftime, and 7-6, after the third quarter.

Colin Cardinale led Sweet Home with four goals and one assist. Sean Burns had a goal and assist. Schnirel, Taylor Heald, Nick Cavalieri and Zon scored a goal. Jim Cardinale scooped up six ground balls. Goalie Chris Lyon made 15 saves.

Brent Doeflein had a goal and five assists for Amherst. Jimmy Luthart and Dan Cooper each scored a goal and Adrian Bylewski and Kurt Ebsary were each credited with an assist. Will Africano won 14 of 19 faceoffs.

Sweet Home's other game last week was an 11-10 loss against Grand Island on Thursday, May 3. The game went back and forth. Sweet Home led 2-1 and trailed 7-3 at halftime. Down by five in the fourth, the Panthers rallied for four goals to cut the deficit to one.

"It was a one-goal game but it was different than the one-goal game with Amherst because we didn't play our best," said Faller. "We made mistakes and they capitalized on them. We didn't put two good games together. That's how we've played all year."

Sweet Home also played undisciplined, taking 10 penalties. Three of the penalties led to Grand Island goals. Sweet Home also allowed two short-handed goals.

Colin Cardinale led Sweet Home with four goals and an assist. Burns (two goals, assist), Chris Covel (goal, assist), Jim Cardinale (two goals, nine ground balls) and Schnirel (goal) also tallied for the Panthers. Lyon made nine saves.

Phil Wendt led Grand Island with six goals.

Sweet Home, 6-7 overall and 1-4 in league play, played at Lancaster on Monday, May 7 but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They play at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9 at Iroquois and at the same time on Friday, May 11 at home against West Seneca East.

"We have to make fewer mistakes than the other team," said Faller. "We're capable of doing it. We've been in every game except Hamburg (lost 15-8 on April 25)."

Colin Cardinale leads all Panthers in scoring with 26 goals and 15 assists. Burns (16 goals, 12 assists), Covel (17 goals, six assists), Zon, Heald, Schnirel (12 points), and Cavalieri (11 points) rounds out the team's top scorers. Lyon has a 60 save percentage, stopping 153 of 257 attempts.

Amherst's other two games saw them dominate at Williamsville South, 13-1, on Thursday, May 3 and fall to Section V's Penn-Yann, a state powerhouse, 10-4, at home on Saturday, May 5.

Rich (five goals, two assists) and Lawson (two goals, three assists) led the Tigers' attack against the Billies. Doerflein and Ebsary each had two goals and an assist. Cooper (goal, assist) and Sean Smith (goal) also scored for Amherst, which held South shot less in the second half.

Africano won 12 of 16 faceoffs.

Penalties killed the Tigers' chances against Penn-Yann, who they've never beaten, including a 10-4 loss last year. Amherst took seven penalties and five in the fourth quarter.

"Five penalties in the fourth quarter is inexcusable," said Amherst coach Stefan Henn.

The statistics in other categories were similar. Both teams combined for 45 shots and picked up only 50 ground balls.

Penn-Yann led 5-3 at halftime.

Amherst (6-7, 4-1) played on Monday, May 7 but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. Amherst hosts Hamburg at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 9 with Hamburg in a rematch of last year's Section VI Class B final won by the Tigers.

"We can't let them run," said Henn. "They're real deep and athletic so if we let them, we don't have a chance. We have to slow the game down and be patient with the ball."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com