Dustin Dobbs ’10
Sports Editor
Wednesday, May 6th was the perfect spring day for any sporting event. The Wreckers Lacrosse team of Staples High kept this tradition of “perfection” with an easy win over Fairfield-Warde High School.
Going into the game, the 4-6 Wreckers were confident enough to beat the 2-7 Mustangs.
Even without tri-captains Zach Fishoff ’09, and TJ Sedgwick ’09 due to injury, tri-captain Jack Ambrose ’10 helped in leading the young Wrecker team to a dominating performance from the start; proving that this squad means business.
The game got underway with midfielder Kip Orban ’11 (two goals) controlling the face-off.
This lead to a rather quiet first quarter with both goalies making huge saves for their respected teams.
Wrecker’s junior goalie Austin Waiter ’10 played outstanding and had five saves on a limited nine shots. Waiter’s brother, Brandon Waiter ’10 was a key part in the Wrecker’s defensive success as well as defenders Seth Cadan ’10 and Ambrose.
“The defense obviously helped out and did their job, which made it much easier for me as a goalie,” said A. Waiter.
The silence was broken with five minutes left in the first quarter when midfielder Kyle Mendelson ’10 (one goal one assist) scored the first goal of the game for Staples,
Fairfield-Warde quickly answered with back-to-back goals from senior tri-captain Taylor Wicke ’09, both assisted from attack Sam Eckerson ’10.
Nate Greenberg ’10 (four goals), Staples’ leading scorer, soon found the goal and sparked his fire. Greenberg scored two very quick goals, one assisted by teammate Jeff Kelly ’10 (one goal, two assists).
Orban would then add to their lead as time ticked away in the first quarter, but Warde had the last say as they capitalized with a last second goal from senior tri-captain Andrew Kelly ’09 which made the score 4-3 in favor of Staples.
In the second quarter, Staples went on a 6-0 tear as numerous Wreckers contributed to their goal total.
Orban was the first to score, and he was assisted by attack Andrew Lanzarro ’09 (one goal, two assists). This was followed by a much-expected Greenberg goal, and then a goal from midfielder Nick Maki ’11 (one goal).
Time seemed to tick away in this quarter as the Wreckers kept piling on the goals. Lanzarro found the goal, followed by a goal from Kelly, and then Greenberg’s final goal, which came in the second quarter, gave the Wreckers a 10-3 advantage at halftime.
The second half started with an encore performance of the stellar defense behind the Wreckers defenders and goalie. Also contributing to the defense was Conor Homscheid ’11 and Anthony Renzulli ’10.
Eckerson of Warde snuck a goal past Waiter early in the third quarter, which was the Mustang’s last goal, but the Wreckers were not finished.
Although this game was interrupted by many “slashing” and “unnecessary roughness” penalties, the Wreckers were not slowing down.
Midfielder Chris Bell ’11(one goal) of Staples scored an assisted goal from Lanzarro to end the third quarter.
The final quarter went by extremely quietly except for the goal by freshmen midfielder Jake Frimet ’12 (one goal), which got the team and the fans excited with four minutes left in regulation.
This ended the score at 12-4 and the Wreckers were victorious, improving their record to 5-6.
Staples took 22 shots and made 12 of them, whereas Warde only took nine shots and made four.
“Our defense played great, which made Austin’s job much easier. I’m impressed with our defense today,” said first year head coach Paul McNulty.
“Nate had a great game today,” said teammate Cadan.
Greenberg credited teammate Jeff Kelly to most of his goals and said, “Jeff found me very well and had nice assists.”
This well-rounded Wrecker team looks to wind down the second half of their season and make a run at FCIACs and States.
“We are definitely coming together as a unit,” said Mendelson.
Coach McNulty noticed a trend with his team, commenting how they get better as they go along in games.
“Not only was this noticeable today, but I think as the season is progressing we are getting better as a team,” said McNulty.
On his young team, McNulty said, “Our young kids are getting better, which is what the program needs.”
“Our personality and attitude is excellent and I love working with these kids,” said McNulty.
The Wreckers are looking to make a playoff run as the latter part of their season approaches with games against St. John’s of New York, Trinity Catholic, Weston, rivals Greenwich, Ludlowe, and St. Joe’s.