The Whitesboro Warriors Boy's Lacrosse Team made it two in a row against rival of all rivals New Hartford today at Don Edick Field, taking the Annual "Sparrior Cup" lacrosse game in convincing fashion, by a score of 12-3. Whitesboro (6-6) had not beaten New Hartford (3-10) in 13 straight tries, going all the way back to 2003, until the Warriors finally knocked off the Spartans by a score of 10-3 on April 24th of this year.
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Today the Warriors used a combination of lightning fast attack play, a punishing defense and some pretty stick work and some solid goaltending to dismantle the Spartans on their home turf.
There was certainly no lack of star power in this one, or love lost for that matter, as Section III football champs inclluding Alex Rukavena, Dave Fasolino, Chris Gibbs, Evan Manna and brothers Sean Flanagan and Kevin Flanagan from Whitesboro squared off with two time New York State Hockey Champs Mike Zalewski, Chris Luker, Alex Fukes, Eric and Jason Fitzgerald as well as soccer star Pat Alcott.
(New Hartford's Freddie DelGenio (2) works around Whitesboro's Matt Felito (6) during second half action.)
It took a little less than 10 minutes of rough and tumble play in the first quarter before Alex Rukavena put the Warriors on top, ripping a shot past Spartan goalie Pat Alcott to make it 1-0 Whitesboro with 5:20 to go in the opening stanza.
Kevin Chapman tied things up at 1-1 with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter, beating Warriors goalie Nolan Puleo. Whitesboro took a 2-1 lead into the second quarter however, after senior captain Joey Schoen whistled a shot past Alcott with 1:58 to go in the first.
The second quarter saw more yellow flags flying than shots headed to the goals, as both teams seemed to resort to a tough physical style of play.
(Whitesboro's Chris Gibbs (right) works inside against Spartans defender Chris Dodge (left) late in the game.)
Whitesboro's Dominick Tucci, the Warrior's hot hand on this chilly day, put his team up 3-1 with 9:15 to go before half time. Before the day was done, Tucci found the range four times.
Jake Manley kept the Warriors rolling with another goal at the 8:19 mark to send Whitesboro to the half with a 4-1 lead.
Whatever Whitesboro coach John Warner told his team at the half certainly sunk in, as the Warriors went out onto the windy field and scored the first three goals of the second half to make it 7-1.
Joey Schoen, freshman Matt Felitto and Chris Gibbs each tallied a goal a piece to give the visitors a big advantage with just over six minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.
(Whitesboro fans invaded Don Edick Field for today's big contest.)
Alex Fukes reminded us of his hockey exploits with a pretty spinning goal for New Hartford with 5:16 to go in the third to pull his team to within 7-2.
The third quarter saw both teams keep up the physical play and the hundreds of fans in attendance show quite a bit of enthusiasm as well, to the point of multiple stoppages of play and not too much game rythym.
Whitesboro tacked on two more goals in the third when Dominick Tucci scored his second and third goals of the game in consecutive fashion, to give his team a 9-2 lead heading to the final period.
Three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter Warriors attack Dan Barry beat an outstretched Pat Alcott to make it 10-2.
Joey Schoen tallied his 3rd goal of the game less than a minute and a half later to give Whitesboro an 11-2 advantage.
(Whitesboro's Dominick Tucci (28) had a big day with 4 goals for his team.)
Whitesboro's final goal of the game came off the stick of, who else, Dominick Tucci, to give Whitesboro a huge 12-2 advantage. Alex Fukes pulled New Hartford to within 12-3 with his second goal, with just 3:18 remaining in the game.
Nolan Puleo stopped 20 shots for Whitesboro, while Pat Alcott made 16 saves for the Spartans. Alex Rukavena also assisted on 9 of Whitesboro's 12 goals.
Congratulations to both clubs on a hard fought contest, which has become a staple of the "Sparrior Cup" since its inception.
New Hartford (3-11) returns to action on 5/14 against Homer, while Whitesboro (7-6) will host Cortland on 5/11.
(Whitesboro Lacrosse Captains Joey Schoen (22) and Kevin Flanagan hoist the hardware, the coveted Sparrior Cup!)
Whitesboro 12 New Hartford 2
Box Score
1 2 3 4 Total
Whitesboro 2 2 5 3 12
New Hartford 1 0 1 1 3
