Warwick has seen a lot of success in Section 9 boys lacrosse, having won the last five contested titles, but the Wildcats have always hit the wall once state tournament play begins.
Saturday was different … very different.
The Wildcats stormed to a 7-1 lead in their state Class B quarterfinal match with Section 4 champion Vestal. The Golden Bears scratched back to within a few, but Warwick turned on its offense again with a six-goal third quarter and rolled to a 20-8 win at Union-Endicott.
Warwick becomes the first Section 9 boys team to reach the semifinal round of the state tournament since the sport was added locally in 2003. The task ahead will be immense as the No. 11 ranked Wildcats take on No. 1 Garden City — the champs from Section 8’s Nassau County, a traditional stronghold — in a June 11 semifinal to be played on the turf field at Middletown High School..
Only James I. O’Neill teams from 2004-06 managed state tournament wins (in first-round matches), but the Raiders fell each time in the quarterfinal round.
On Saturday, Dylan Sullivan scored four goals; Ryan Sullivan and Anthony Mazza each had three; Brody Frederick, Aidan Corbalis, Darren Vogt and Jason Senior each had two; and, single tallies came from Kevin Ginley and Matt Finnerty for Warwick (16-1). Joey Finn, Corbalis and Dylan Sullivan all had three assists. Christian Perron had 11 saves.
For Vestal (11-7), Brody Crowell scored three goals, Tom Vallely and Cam Adams each had two and Michael Hogan one. Aidan Ruhm had 11 stops.
Three Section 9 champs fall
Class A quarterfinal – Corning-Painted Post (4) 19, Monroe-Woodbury (9) 7: Max Weeks scored twice for M-W (13-5), which had a six-match win streak snapped. Single tallies came from Liam Willamson, Anthony Severo, John Gennaro, Luke Damiani and Ryan Behringer. Tyler Baisley made six stops.
For CPP, Tylly Fratarcangelo and Clayton Smith each scored four goals with three apiece from Kohl Hogue, Joe Fuscio and Dom DiNardo.
Corning (13-4) will play Half Hollow Hills of Suffolk County in a June 11 state semifinal on Middletown’s Faller Field.
Class C quarterfinal – Maine-Endwell (4) 17, Highland/Marlboro (9) 7: Maine-Endwell went up 5-0 after one quarter, scored six times in the third and five times in the fourth.
Carlson Palmer scored two goals with Logan Davis, Luke Wiese, Mark Cureton and Trevor Coates each tallying once for Highland. Wiese and Coates each had two assists for Highland (15-3). Justin Caballero had 12 stops.
For M-E (15-2), Tyler Matthews had nine goals and two assists, Lucas Chenecka had three goals, Gavin Baxter two and single tallies from Declan Grace, Landon Rollo and Finnigan Grace. Liam Stanton had seven saves.
Maine-Endwell will take on Section 1 champ Somers in a June 11 semifinal at Faller Field.
Class D quarterfinal – Chenango Forks (4) 20, Rondout Valley (9) 4: Chenango Forks raced to quarter leads of 9-1 and 15-1.
For Rondout, Ryan Clark, Isaiah Mercado, Wyatt Ortner and David McGrath scored.
For Forks (13-3), Brody Polacek had four goals and six assists; Wyatt Stasik had six goals; Bauer Maus had three goals and three assists.
Chenango Forks will take on Cold Spring Harbor from Section 8’s Nassau County on June 11 at Middletown’s turf field.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
X / Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Warwick is first Section 9 team to reach boys lacrosse state semis, trio fall in quarters
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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