Boys lacrosse
Tigers' second-half meltdown ends section title run
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Will Africano, right, consoles Conor McNally after Amherst's crushing section final loss. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Amherst Central's run as the best team in Section VI Class B had to end some day, but the way it concluded was unimaginable.

Leading rival and top-seed Hamburg, 7-1, early in the second half, the Tigers, seeded third, allowed eight unanswered goals to lose 9-7 on Friday, June 1 at Amherst High School.

Amherst had won the last six Class B titles and beaten Hamburg in the final in three of the last four years. It's Hamburg's first section title in boys lacrosse.

"We've waited a long time for this," said Hamburg coach Jerry Severino.

Hamburg junior attackman Jerry Feuerstein got the Bulldogs' rally started at 5:51 of the third quarter when he scored on a fastbreak. Classmate Joe Resetaritis, who came into the game with 62 goals and 100 points, followed with three straight tallies to cut Hamburg's deficit to 7-5 with 8:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Jon Domres closed the gap to 7-6 at 6:02. Feuerstein tied the game at 3:11 when he outhustled two Amherst players for a loose ground ball and beat Amherst goalie Conor McNally (nine saves) on an unassisted rush. Hamburg gained the next possession, and with 2:41 left, Feuerstein beat Tiger defender Doug Zaccagnino around the net, leaving teammate Matt Springer wide open. Springer beat McNally high and gave the Bulldogs their first lead since 1-0 52 seconds into the game.

Amherst's Casey Rich tries to block the shot of Hamburg goalie James Maxwell during first half action of the Section VI Class B final on Friday, June 1 at Amherst High School. Amherst led Hamburg, 6-1, at halftime and lost 9-7, ending the Tigers' six-year section title run. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

"I was standing back door in the crease and the ball came my way, and I just happened to put it in," said Springer. "It could have been anyone."

Resetaritis, who said after the game "he always thought his team would win," sealed the victory with 11.4 seconds when he took a pass from Springer, faked McNally and shot low for his fourth goal.

"Our kids didn't understand the importance of ball possession," said Amherst coach Stefan Henn of the momentum shift in the second half. "Hamburg changed the entire tempo of the game. We struggled with on-ball pressure."

Amherst couldn't have executed a better game plan in the first half, outhustling Hamburg for most ground balls and dominating time of possession.

"They gained most of the faceoffs, picked up most of the ground balls, didn't throw the ball away and we did the reverse," said Severino. "It was Murphy's Law. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong."

Amherst senior midfielder Dan Lawson tied the game at 1-1 with 4:21 remaining in the first half on a man-up situation. Lawson checked Hamburg defender Sean Murray to the ground, teammate Sean Smith picked up the ball and passed it to Lawson, who rifled a low shot past Hamburg goalie James Maxwell.

Casey Rich scored two late goals in the first quarter on assists by Brent Doerflein and Smith to push Amherst's lead to 3-1.

Goals by Doerflein, Smith and Kurt Ebsary in the second quarter gave Amherst a commanding 6-1 halftime lead. Doerflein's goal came on great passes in transition from Chris Brunetto and Will Africano. Doerflein assisted on Smith's and Ebsary's goals.

Doerflein scored Amherst's only goal of the second half while falling to the ground.

Lawson and Smith each added an assist.

In a way, Amherst could have seen the loss coming. Two days earlier in the semifinals, the Tigers threw away a 5-1 lead in the fourth quarter at second-seed West Seneca East but eventually won 6-5 in triple overtime.

Henn cited poor stick play on offense and several key unforced errors from his team for West Seneca East's late comeback.

In the first overtime, Henn said both teams had chances to score, but both goalies made key stops. In the third overtime, Doerflein made an incredible diving play to keep the ball inbounds, Dan Cooper picked it up and Henn called time out. Amherst then ran an isolation play for Smith, who scored the winning goal.

Henn lauded the play of Tim Monahan (assist), McNally (17 saves), Smith (three goals on three shots, assist), Brunetto (four ground balls) and Africano (nine ground balls, won 11 of 14 faceoffs). Cooper had two goals, Rich scored once and Doerflein had an assist.

It was Amherst's third triple-overtime game in school history. The last triple OT game was a 9-8 win over Williamsville North last year.

Amherst finishes 10-10 and loses 14 seniors. They are Lawson, Brunetto, Africano, Zaccagnino, Nick Borek, Jimmy Luthart, Mitchell Gehring, Nick Johnson, Jayson Simpson, Devon Kloss, Jon Loefke, Ray Favale, Joe Beamer and Josh Liszewski.

Of the 15, the most significant losses are Lawson (27 goals, 12 assists, 42 ground balls) and Africano (16 goals, 11 assists, 191 ground balls; won 68 percent of faceoffs).

Amherst will return Doerflein (32 goals, 24 assists, 45 ground balls) and Rich (42 goals, 22 assists, 64 ground balls, 63 percent faceoff), both juniors.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com