SOMERS, N.Y. - After steamrolling Maine-Endwell in the state semifinals, Somers found themselves in an early hole against Jamesville-DeWitt on June 14 at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Down 2-0 at 9:40, the Tuskers didn’t leave their shovels on the bus and just started digging.
Four straight goals put the boys on familiar ground and the rest went according to plan in a 19-11 victory that gave the school its first ever state lacrosse championship.
Of course, the game began with a win in the circle by Matt Mayfield. But Jamesville gained possession by pressing Somers into a turnover and did so with a little Basketball 101. Give and go, Jackson King to Andrew Laubenstein, and Hudson Ruby was unable to keep pace on the right.
At 11:07, another Mayfield win didn’t slow the Ram resolve. Right in his foyer, Ryan Keogh made the save on Tristan Iglesias, and Benjamin Porter truly turned defense into offense with his long stick. Basketball again, he played pick and roll with Lucas Patchen and rifled a sidearm past Ruby at 9:40.
Mayfield continued nonetheless. Dylan Jimenez taking the back push, Somers then countered by employing their own version of basketball and adding in some football. Miguel Iglesias posted up the defense, and the double leaving Mason Kelly open, the QB hit his running back. Kelly swung sidearm, and the champs were on the board.
The tie next, Ruby kick started the engine. Picking up a loose ball in front, he hit Somers’ favorite wide receiver with an over the shoulder loft. Dean Palazzolo caught in stride, his stick was smacked on the shot, but the loose ball skipped to Cam Violante on the goal line. He juked to the middle and easily beat Keogh.
Six minutes to go, the teams traded turnovers, and the back and forth left Miguel Iglesias to play post up again. This time he muscled his way forward, and turning in, the middie did it himself for a 3-2 lead at 5:23.
Not done with the basketball, Mayfield went one on one. He snatched the draw, got on his elephant, and the stampede doubled the lead.
One save for Keogh and two for Ruby contained the scoreboard until Lucas Patchen found space on the right. He leaped off one foot, turned in the air and the hook shot closed to a 4-3 game.
In at 1:59, runs are never easy to come by when Mayfield always has his foot on the breaks. Going back for the ball, the win set Jimenez up to two-step the defense. He came from behind, and when met with the double team, he split the defense. An underhander the weapon of choice, the middie scraped the bottom and closed the first quarter scoring at 1:08.
Onto the second, Mayfield pulled out his secret weapon. The senior flipped the ball ahead, picked up on the bounce and passed left to Miguel Iglesias. The middie set himself, fired across his body, and like that, the lead was three.
A penalty on Somers kept it a game, though. Whistled in the crease at 11:03, Somers had no time to think once play resumed. Porter got the ball on the left and just swung away. He connected, and it was 6-4.
10:57 left in the half, the two-goal game was soon a distant memory. Of course, Mayfield was holding the stop watch. The win back to Kelly, the running back took off, bulled through the defense like old times and found the bottom left side of the net at 10:42.
Up three, Somers maintained with defense. Two saves for Ruby and two shot clock violations handed the action off to Jimenez. At the 20, the middie passed to an oncoming Violante from behind the net, and he came around on the curl. Winding up, the attacker shot, and it was an 8-4 game with 4:58 left in the half.
Another Mayfield win wasn’t as expedient in this iteration, though. But the scramble went to Somers, and the Tuskers weren’t worried about lost time. Jimenez got the ball on the left, and not getting much attention, he kept going for an overhead that increased the lead to five.
4:01 remaining, Patchen answered 45 seconds later. Far from enough, the margin was as close as his team would get, and Mayfield delivered the reality. In the middle for the win, the ball eventually came to Miguel Iglesias on the right, and he went underhand to regain the five goal lead at 2:40.
10-5, Somers came with another set of brothers. On the left, Sawyer McIntosh had a clear line of sight. But the Somers goalie blocked the lowball, and in transition, Logan Ruby trailed the play.
So, with eyes on the prize, Jimenez read the play, passed back to the long stick, and the defender went over head to close the second period scoring at 11-5.
A half to go, the teams went back and forth until Somers turned the ball over at 6:17. Patchen brought the ball upfield, and over to Tate Mullin, the sequence was nothing fancy. The junior came forward from the 40, shot and beat Ruby to close within 11-6.
No shock, the enthusiasm was short-lived. Thanks to Mayfield, the All-American went back to scoop the draw, and in possession, Somers went around the horn. From there Iglesias dumped inside to Ryan Brush, and not enough defense contending, his leaping shot regained a six-goal lead.
At 4:44, Mayfield went for the throat. He took the ball ahead, passed to Miguel Iglesias, and he put the squeeze on with another goal from the left.
Porter answered again at 2:37, but without being able to solve Mayfield, the ensuing comeback attempts didn’t matter. He won the draw, raced downfield, passed to Iglesias, and the nightmare rewinded for the Rams.
2:25 left in the third, Violante added another 23 seconds later, and trading goals was nowhere near good enough. The Section Four champs succumbed, and the Tuskers entered the history books.
Congratulations to the Tuskers and their whole coaching staff.
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