Welcome to the Wes Report, Lacrosse Edition. Admittedly, I do not know as much about Lacrosse as I do about hockey, but I am willing to learn as I go, so feel free to give me the business when I use improper LAX vernacular to describe what is going on out there on the field. I am a student of the game and looking forward to learning about the mystery of crease infractions, face-off violations, failures to advance, and the like. Frankly, there is no better time than the present to become a Thunder Lacrosse fan, what with last year's first 500 season since the program's inception, the return of Joe "the beast" Trimboli, the infamous Pres brothers, and a significant influx of new talent with a dozen players making the leap to Varsity this year. Add to that a thriving booster club, led by our colorful president - Chris Caracci - with her great vision, boundless energy & enthusiasm, and of course black, gold, and purple beads!
The Greece Athena/Odyssey Thunder Varsity Boys Lacrosse Team dropped their 2010 home opener 18-6 to the Brighton Barons, arguably the toughest team in their division, on the 30th of March at Athena. It was a mild 50-degree spring-like day with a fairly decent crowd on hand in the stands as the Thunder JV team wrapped up their practice early with a little pizza party and came out to watch the game. Players from Greece Storm and Hurricanes Youth programs were also in attendance to show their support by holding up the Thunder banner and chasing down balls at the half. Our booster club has built a solid connection with those two organizations, which represent the future of Greece Thunder Lacrosse. Due to technical difficulties with the campus flag pole, team manager Dwayne stepped in as the flag bearer, while Emily Pelletier and Sarah Deerstein delivered a bold, brave acappella anthem duet. And away we go!
Barons rallied 4 times in the opening frame before Dan "Vyper" Vyverberg beat his man and drove the net to answer back for the Thunder. Barons netted 2 more before the horn to make it 6-1 at the first break. Greece settled in on the back-end to hold Brighton at bay, allowing just 1 goal in the second, and it was 7-1 Barons at the end of two. Props to Brandon Cheeseman, Dan Conway, Nick Materise and everyone else who helped out on D.
Not much to report at the half, we gotta work on that. Any Athena or Odyssey students/groups out there wanna come out and put on a half-time show at an upcoming home game (next one is 5pm on Tuesday, April 6th)? Calling all cheerleaders, marching bands, sitting bands, standing bands, rubber bands, garage bands, dance troupes, dance groups, hula hoops! Anyone interested in a career in sports broadcasting or running the scoreboard or spotting for things like ground balls, goalie saves, big hits, political ambassadors or school dignitaries in the crowd (where's Waldo? Richard? Lacy? Canon?) and whatever else is deemed worthy of mention? Give Wes a call at 585-281-3399 or just come on up to the booth at the next home game to get involved. Back to the game at hand.
Brighton got right to it, bang-bang, notching their 8th and 9th goals early in the 3rd, but Thunder refused to roll over and wither away. Enter freshman Anthony Merola who would take a feed out front, from Vyper at X, to net his first varsity goal and get the fans on their feet. Barons rang the bell once more, before Tyler Gorgione got his own with an underarm ripper that beat the barons keeper low, assisted by Matt Keough. A short while later Vyper put his head down, battled his way through traffic and put one on cage that just barely trickled in to make it 10-4, but that was as close as Thunder would get. Barons finished off the frame with 3 more markers and it was 13-4 Barons going into the final quarter.
Gino Prestigiacomo took matters into his own hands, pushing cage and converting on two of his numerous face-off wins in the 4th. But the Barons would tally 5 more times to break the Thunder's back.
Zach Rudgers played well in the nets stoning several point blank chances by the Barons with a total of 10 saves (5/2/3/0) and allowing 15 goals against before passing the baton to Steve Cole for the final 5 mins of play. Dan Vyverberg led the scoring for Thunder with 2G+1A for 3PTS. Gino Prestigiacomo had a pair of goals and led in the ground ball department for Thunder with 7. Let's give a warm welcome and shout out to the following players who made their varsity debut in this game: #4-Nick Kraft, #10-Clay Wyzykowski, #16-Anthony Merola, #17-Nick Materise, #19-Eric Hostetter, #21-Jared Sangiorgi, #24-Joe Trimboli, and #25-Nick Caracci. One TEAM, One FIGHT, One FAMILY. Go THUNDER. There is no OTHER.
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