GTLAX Game Report - April 3 @ Brockport

Sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Sunday was a "great saturday" as the modified team sold hot dogs at Walmart to raise money and awareness for Greece Thunder Lacrosse, while the JV and Varsity squads traveled west to play Brockport under seriously sunny skies. The day proved to be a tremendous success on all fronts with the hot dog sale raising close to $600 for our program, the JV team beating Brockport 6-5 in their first outing of the season, and the Varsity team capping things off with a convincing 12-7 win over the Blue Devils to boot.

Remember how I said earlier that I did not know a lot about LAX vernacular? Well, after sitting in the stands immediately behind the varsity player benches at Brockport, I am now flush with new terminology like "orange-6", "ride the field", "don't iso him", "gotta be ____ (fill in the blank with your favorite color)", "pull the string", "who's hot", "keep it hot", "walk it up", "keep it tight", "feed the crease", and my personal favorite - "relax the ball" - to name a few. And from the opponents bench we heard some beauties like "that can't be your best look", " get on him or he'll take you to the rail every time" and "we're sick of playin D". But of course I digress, that's what I do best.

Caught in beautiful downtown Brockport rush hour traffic, this author was a little late getting to the field with some serious catching up to do, as Dan Vyverberg had already set the pace for Greece with the first 3 goals of the game, assisted by Matt Keough and Gino Pres-ti-di-jock-oh-moe (so say'eth the B-Port announcer) on the first 2 tallies. Vyper grew a shadow in the wake of his natural hat and that made room for Anthony Merola to walk out and wind up a shot that would beat Duthoy to make it 4-0 Thunder. Then it was time to feed the press as Vyper sailed a wing to wing pass over the middle to Gino who was hot for the money shot, 5-0 Thunder. Brockport eventually hit the board, but Gino came back iso with his second and it was 6-1 Thunder at the end of one.

Momentum shifted to the Blue Devils in the second quarter as they netted four to close the gap, but Vyper popped back up on the grid in the middle of their rally to finish off a fast-break feed from Nick Caracci that would secure Nick's first varsity point. It was 7-5 Thunder at the half, and in case you did not already hear the announcer mention it earlier, the concession stand is still open. Just ask Kim Cheese, who was spotted catching a leisurely ride over and back on EZ-Cart One. Her Thunder yellow crop pants were in alignment with the dress code, but she could seriously use a Thunder toe sock on that cast to complete the ensemble, just like those black, purple and gold beads did for me!

Third frame was all Thunder as Tyler Gorgione made it 8-5 with the lone goal, assisted by Dan Vyverberg.

Fourth quarter saw Matt Keough count his first goal of the season, assisted by Gino and then Gino came back iso on the next play with his third on the afternoon. Brockport scored the next goal on a nifty play in tight, and then Gino answered back with another iso attack for his fourth. Tyler Gorgione capped off the scoring for Greece to complete his pair, and Brockport added one more with a whimper for a 12-7 final in Thunder's favor.

Thunder's record advances to 2-1 overall (1-1 league) with this non-league win over Brockport. Vyper and Gino led the scoring with 4g+2a=6pts apiece. Tyler Gorgione had 2g for 2pts including the winner and Matt Keough had 1g+1a for 2pts as well. Anthony Merola (1g) and Nick Caracci (1a) added a point each with Caracci's assist marking his first varsity point, in case you didn't read about it earlier. I suspect that is only just the beginning and the flood gates will soon open for him!

Thunder played well defensively once again to bolster the win. Zach Rudgers had 10 saves (2/2/4/2). Gino and Cheese led the loose ball charge with 8gb and 7gb respectively, one of those being the battle of the 23's won by Cheese. Thunder's defense intercepted a lot of balls with their stix up to shut down the airways, nice work boys! Mufasa LoFaso showed off his wheels by legging a few the length of the field in transition. The Alexander & Catalano Heavy Hitter Award goes to Anothony Merola for laying out #18 with honorable mention going to Conway for stepping up on a long-pole bearing down on the crease and to the Pres bro's, Andrew and Gino, who took the body several times as well. One of those hits incited a bit of a riot as #12 for Brockport could not handle the truth and ended up retaliating on his teammates behalf, earning himself an early ejection. Vyper had to take one for the team and sit the non-releasable fighting foul for Thunder. It was like going to a lacrosse game and seeing a hockey game break out!

In closing, let's give a warm welcome and shout out to #29-Steve Spencer who made his varsity debut in this game.

Thunder is on a roll, so take a stroll out back behind Athena and catch a double-play on Tuesday, April 6th @ 5pm, when the JV team is having the BK Kings in for dinner and the Varsity Thunder is serving up ER Bombers. If that is not enough to satisfy your LAX appetite then head on over to Applebees on the Ridge (Rte 104, east of 390) for Dinner and Dessert with the Greece Thunder Lacrosse team. A percentage of all sales will go to support the Greece Thunder Lacrosse program if you present the attached voucher. Thanks in advance for your support.

One TEAM, One FIGHT, One FAMILY. Go THUNDER. There is no OTHER!!!