Nice road win for the Thunder as they beat down the Eastridge Lancers 9-8 on their brand spankin' new turf field while the sun was beating down on everyone in the hizzie. What a beauty day at 80 on April 1, is that some kind of April Fools? The stadium was still partially under construction so they had concessions on wheels and you could faintly hear the color commentator covering the game for Irondequoit Public Access at the top of the bleachers. I understand Dan Merola may be getting a copy of the game coverage so we will try and make that available on the Thunder Lacrosse website for those of you who were unable to make it out to the game.
It was a great contest for sure with Eastridge getting out to an early 4-1 lead and Greece responding well to take the lead at 5-4. Thunder never relinquished the lead enroute to their first win of the season. Gino broke the seal for Thunder as he rolled and pulled the trigger to prime the pump. Vyper added to it by sweeping Thunder's second marker across the goal line amidst a scrum atop the Lancers crease. Posted up in the slot, waiting for the feed from Gino after he won his face, Vyper turned and buried his second to draw near. Then came the Robitussin Sickest Play of the Game compliments of Anthony Merola as he caught a feed from Matt Keough on the wing, while cutting across the top of the crease, and then went over his right shoulder, John Grant style, for the equalizer. Gino walked in and notched the go-ahead goal for Thunder with just 5 seconds to go in the opening quarter, 5-4 Thunder.
Second frame was a goalie duel between Rudgers and Ennis as Thunder carried their 1-goal advantage to the half. Third quarter saw Thunder widen their lead to 6-4 with Gino's 3rd goal on the night, but the Lancers answered back with the next two tallies to tie the game. Fear not, as Vyperdasniper would restore the lead for Thunder at 7-6 on a delayed call. You could cut the tension with a spork in the fourth quarter as Eastridge tied it at 7's at the outset. Gino answered back with a sidearm laser to beat Ennis from the wing. Vyper rolled and finished with the eventual winner, although Eastridge made it interesting when they scored with less than 2 minutes to go. With 8 seconds left on the clock and a whistle, Eric "Lil'Hoss" Hostetter got the ball at midfield and killed it with evasive maneuvers as he rolled to the sideline and carried it deep.
Give it up for Zach Rudgers with 11 saves. And how about Mike "mufasa" LoFaso with 3 big hits. Dan "con man" Conway had a nice table-top and several strong clears.Nick Materise was in the Lancers face all game long, poking and slapping and jabbing to keep them on the perimeter. Cheese showed his muscle with several face-off wins, led the transition game with 10 ground balls and several pick-offs, but it was most entertaining to watch him containing the Lancer's go to shooter (#3-Moynihan). The Thunder back-end played extremely well from the net out to bolster the win. No challenge was too big. Take Andrew Prestigiacomo, who went up against a Lancer (#6-Palmer) with 5 inches and 50 lbs on him, and shut him down. Once again leading the way in the scoring department we had Gino with 4G+1A for 5pts and Vyper with 4G for 4pts. It was a solid team effort all the way around as Thunder advanced their record to 1-1. But where was the stix salute that Chris "bedroom voice" Caracci made us all wait around for?
Thunder continues their east coast swing with the next stop being on Sat Apr 3 @ Brockport. If in doubt, come on out and shout and see what its all about. Happy Easter!
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