Mistakes cost North against Orchard Park
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North knew they needed to play a perfect game if they had any shot of defeating Orchard Park in the Section VI Class A boys lacrosse semifinals on Wednesday, May 30. But mistakes are exactly what cost the Spartans.

OP feasted on several Spartan mistakes to outscore North 6-0 in the third quarter en route to a 12-3 victory. OP led 4-2 at halftime but North unraveled in the third quarter, getting outshot, 15-4.

"We let our heads fall and gave up mentally," said North coach Matt Smart. "We threw the ball away during most man-up situations. Our attackmen couldn't handle the one-on-one pressure that OP placed on us, let alone back up the goal after several shots, and our middies didn't make the best decisions with the ball. We couldn't control the ball to give our defense a rest, and OP capitalized on our weaknesses."

"If we are ever to play with teams like OP, we need more discipline, off-season conditioning and stick skill work," he continued. "We need a consistent attitude and effort during the entire season of being prepared, never giving up and outworking anybody that is against us."

North played tough with OP in the first half, but in the second quarter, Smart said his team couldn't score on a man-up situation, got sloppy with possession and didn't finish plays in the goal crease.

"Both teams played good but made mistakes," said Smart. "We didn't capitalize on their mistakes, and they didn't capitalize on a lot of ours."

Evan Bryant scored all three North goals. Rob Pekarski, Pat Mulvihill and Joe Greenwald each had one assist. Grant Rickan was ground ball king with six. Goalie Pat Stasio made 22 saves.

Greg Michael (four), Jeff Tundo (three goals, two assists), and Matt Ferrino and Kevin Lalley (two goals each) led the Quaker offense.

OP also won 5 of 18 faceoffs.

North has never beaten OP, losing 15 times in the regular season and another 11 times in the postseason.

North finishes 11-8 and loses 13 seniors. Notable players leaving are Bryant, who finished the season first on the team in goals (30), assists (34), and fourth in ground balls (42); Mike Jaszka (21 goals, eight assists, 43 ground balls); Ryan Geary (five goals, assist, 77 ground balls); Mulvihill (10 goals, 20 assists, 40 ground balls); Matt Dindurski (23 goals, eight assists, 26 ground balls); and Rob Wilcox (goal, four assists, 64 ground balls).

"They did a good job helping to take North lacrosse to a new level and helped accomplish some firsts for the program the past few years," said Smart. "The seniors will be missed, but it gives others the chance to step up and lead this program to another level."

"I will remember this team as a very talented bunch who mentally sold themselves short of their full potential," he continued. "Playing Penn-Yan to a 1-1 tie into the third quarter, beating Amherst, leading Niagara-Wheatfield at halftime and making the final four by beating Clarence will all be fond memories, but we could have done more and should have done more. I tell the guys all the time not to leave anything in question throughout their lives. This season has a few questions that can never be answered. Hopefully, we all can learn from this year and move forward together."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com