ESG - Men's Lacrosse
Western does enough for bronze
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

The Western Region team looked like it was in full control Sunday morning, as it held a 4-0 lead over New York City in its final contest of the Empire State Games.

But New York City managed to make a game of it and give the fans something to bite their nails about. Western needed a win to stay in medal contention.

Western dominated the first half with speedy offense, powerful defense and quick outlet passes between the two.

Corning's Matt Pierotti put Western on top with his goal on an assist from Casey Rich. Hamburg's Joe Resetarits added a pair of goals and Canandaigua's Connor Henderson tallied one to give Western its 4-0 lead.

Pierotti added his second in the third quarter, but then the momentum shifted and New York City seized control. New York scored four straight goals over the next 10 minutes, capped by a diving tally by Scott Margolis.

East Aurora's Jon Lawless had started the game in goal, but was pulled in the third quarter for Canandaigua's Scott Bement.

Western bounced back with goals from Corning's Mitch Kiefer, Rich and Henderson to put the game out of reach.

"In the second half, we came out and tried the slow the ball down a little bit," Rich explained. "We just gave up some quick goals. We had a couple unnecessary penalties, which let them score to bring them a little closer. But we ended up regaining our confidence and composure to hold them off."

"We just fell apart, but we got it all together in the third quarter," Orchard Park's Jeff Tundo added. "They got a lot of garbage goals too."

The defense, featuring West Seneca's Greg Bensman, tightened up in the fourth quarter, allowing a couple of meaningless goals. Bensman laid a great hit on Margolis in the fourth quarter to break up a potential scoring opportunity.

With the game in hand and Western closing out a 3-2 record, they had clinched at least a bronze medal. However, if Adirondack could beat Central in the following game by more than three goals, Western would have won the silver. Central, which bested Western, 11-8, on Friday, fell behind Adirondack at halftime, but came back for an 8-7 victory.

Western had won the silver medal at the 2006 Games in Rochester and were determined to at least win bronze this year.

"We didn't come here to walk away with nothing," Rich said.

Rich finished with five goals and two assists in the tournament. Tundo scored three goals.

The team also featured Orchard Park's Matt Ferrino and Kevin Lalley.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com