If Corning East doesn’t win a state championship in boys lacrosse this spring it sure won’t be because of a lack of preparation.
The Trojans have played in every state tournament since winning their only New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship in 1990, but they’ve come up short in the finals a mind-boggling nine times – including the last three seasons against Huntington, Shoreham-Wading River and Mount Sinai.
Coach Bob Streeten has loaded the 2009 schedule, and Corning East, ranked third in Class B by the New York State Sportswriters Association, is off to a 5-0 start following a weekend victory against No. 11 John Jay-Cross River by an 11-4 score.
It was East's first win over John Jay in four attempts. The last loss was by a 15-11 margin last season. John Jay closed to within 6-4 late in the third quarter before Corning East pulled away. Senior attackman Cody Lucas finished with five goals and an assist in the win.
“At our first scrimmage, the coaches said if we don’t win the fourth quarter, we’re not going to win games down the road,” Lucas told The Corning Leader. “Ever since then, we’ve been able to win in the fourth quarter.”
The schedule this season already included participating in multi-team scrimmages in Connecticut and Long Island that attracted strong competition, head-to-head scrimmages with the legendary West Genesee program and traditional Class C contender Penn Yan, plus a 16-5 rout of Mercer Island, Wash., regarded as one of the best programs west of the Mississippi River.
Justin Patterson, Corning East
Photo By Randy Abrams
Senior attackman Justin Patterson has scored 16 goals and 12 points already, and Lucas has rolled up 13 goals and five assists in five games. Sophomore Jordan Frysinger has nine goals and co-captain Mitch Keefer has chipped in with eight assists. The goalie is Tyler White, a lanky sophomore who has turned back 58.3 percent of the shots he’s faced, including eight stops against John Jay.
“This was a measuring stick for us in terms of where we felt we needed to be and what we needed to do,” Streeten told the paper.
There are still huge challenges remaining during the regular season, beginning this week with the front half of a home-and-home with local rival Chenango Forks and a home game against Canandaigua on Friday in what could be a preview of the state semifinals. The final non-leaguer will be May 9 at Alfred University against Orchard Park, the best Class A team west of Section III.
Girls Lacrosse: Canandaigua knocks off No. 1 team
* Canandaigua began its mid-Atlantic trip against three highly regarded teams by rallying from a 4-0 deficit to score a 12-10 victory Saturday over Owings Mills, Md., McDonogh, which had been rated No. 1 in the nation by LaxPower.com. Junior attacker Haley Marasioti scored three goals and seniors Kelly Condon and Alyssa Johnston added two apiece. Junior midfielder Abby Friend (two goals, two assists) scored the winner on an eight-meter penalty shot with 2:38 remaining.
* Baldwinsville held on for a 9-8 victory against West Genesee, snapping the Wildcats' winning streak at 52 games. Kara Moschetti scored three goals to help lift the Bees to a 9-5 lead with 4:57 to go before West Genesee pulled close. Casey Chiesa finished with 14 saves.
* Nanuet, coming off consecutive Section 1 Class C girls lacrosse championships, picked a tough way to open its season -- vs. two-time Class B champion Yorktown -- and came up short, 17-14. Yorktown, which opened with a win over Ward Melville, broke to a nine-goal lead against Nanuet and then held on. Jaimie Morrison (four assists), Patricia Kaishian, Gabrielle Veteri and Lindsay Scott scored hat tricks for the Cornhuskers. Nanuet was led by Lauren Kahn (three goals, five assists) and K.C. Jentzen (four goals), among four lacrosse starters coming off a Federation basketball championship late last month.
Baseball: Fort Plain coach reaches 600
* Mark Hanifin and Dan Wiecek combined on a 13-strikeout no-hitter as Fort Plain defeated St. Johnsville, 15-1, to give Craig Phillips his 600th coaching victory. Phillips has coached Fort Plain to 20 league crowns, seven Section II titles and a 2007 NYSPHSAA Class C championship.
Hanifin struck out 11 over five innings. Teammate Evan Yacowenia homered in the first inning as part of Fort Plain's 14-hit outburst.
"Give credit to all the kids. I wish I could mention all of them that have played for me,” he told The Daily Gazette. "I know if I retired tomorrow, I’ve been on a great run. It’s been 34 years of dedication, tradition and pride."
Ever wonder what it takes to get a team to the top level? The Hilltoppers found out after they suffered a 1-0 loss to Schoharie in the first bid for No. 600.
"I got on them the other night because I was upset," Phillips said. "I didn’t like the way they competed."I told the guys, 'I’ll be here at 6:30 in the morning, and if you care about the program, you’ll be here, too.' The next morning, they were here."
* Nolan Becker, a 6-foot-6 left-hander at Stuyvesant who will attend Yale in the fall, struck out all 18 Manhattan Bridges batters en route to a 10-0 victory. Just three hitters made contact, and none managed to put the ball in play.
In addition to his 2-0 start on the mound with 30 strikeouts in 11 innings, Becker is hitting .636 with a home run and 10 runs batted in during the team’s 4-0 start.
Football: Heading to Happy Valley
* Ithaca quarterback Garrett Venuto has been invited to join the Penn State football team in the fall as a preferred walk-on. Venuto sent tapes to a number of colleges and narrowed his options to Penn State, Wake Forest and Delaware.
He visited State College, Pa., in February and met with quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, son of legendary head coach Joe Paterno. Walk-ons don’t get scholarship money – though that can change down the road – and generally work with the scout team.
* Eighteen Long Island players are among the selections on the annual New York State High School Football Coaches Association Golden 50 Team.
Among the 10 Section 8 and eight Section 11 honorees are six Hofstra recruits, including Gatorade New York player of the year Miguel Maysonet of Riverhead.
* Horseheads has called on former JV coach Damian Saks to lead the varsity team. He replaces Mike McLain, who resigned in January after a 2-7 season. Saks coached the JVs for six seasons before taking off 2008 while working on his administrative degree.
Track and Field: Some early-season highlights
* Lansingburgh's season is all of two meets old, but junior Terrance Kemp has already unfurled an attention-getting effort. Kemp won the long jump in a triangular against Mechanicville and Voorheesville with an effort of 23 feet.
* Monsignor Farrell’s 3,200-meter relay scored a win at the 42nd annual Arcadia (Calif.) Invitational. Mark Bernardo, James Farley, Anthony Liota and Alex Orlando finished in 7:51.24.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at
johnschianosports@gmail.com
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