A day-long weather delay didn’t deter Orchard Park from continuing its dominance on the lacrosse field.
John Januszkiewicz had six goals, Mitch Wilson won 12 draws and Taylor Ferrino made 22 saves for the top-seeded Quakers in a 14-5 win over No. 2 Clarence in the Class A championship game before an estimated 400 at Hamburg’s Howe Field on Wednesday.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night at All High Stadium, but inclement weather caused the postponement. The sectional title is OP’s 21st in the last 23 years.
“I thought our goalie made some real good early saves to keep them off the board, Johnny had a big game – a great first half, we were pretty patient and moved the ball on offense, our faceoff guy was excellent and our defense was just awesome,” said Quakers coach Gene Tundo, who eclipsed the 500-win mark earlier this season. “Everything really added up today and I just think we’re that much better than them.”
Januszkiewicz, a senior attackman, netted five goals in the opening half to help OP build a 9-0 lead. Tim Wagner, Chris Murphy, Spencer Cromwell and Mitch Wilson also netted goals, a vast majority of which were scored after faceoff wins by Wilson, who has signed with VMI.
OP continued the onslaught into the third quarter with a couple of early goals by Ralph Pagliei. Early in the fourth, Januszkiewicz netted his sixth before Kevin Goltz and Pagliei rounded out the scoring for the winners.
“We knew exactly what we wanted to do on offense today,” Januszkiewicz said. “We started by initiating things down low and then we let our attack finish in front. We knew Ralph had a size advantage and I knew I could run right by my guy. We had the advantage down low all day long.”
If there was one area of concern for the Quakers it would be the amount of penalties they were whistled for. Ferrino and Co., though, bailed out OP time and time again. The Lynn University signee made a handful of huge point-blank saves, several of which he stopped with his shins.
“Taylor was really good today,” Januszkiewicz said. “He always seems to step up for the playoffs. He really carried us.”
Tundo also praised the play of defenders Nick Bammel, Connor Eddy and Matt Perla, long-stick midfielder John Wellington and defensive midfielders A.J. Pismarov and Ben Holmes.
OP (17-1) has won 16 straight games, including three wins over the Red Devils, since a 10-3 defeat at the hands of Saturday’s Far West Regional opponent, Penfield of Section V (Rochester area).
“I can’t wait for Saturday,” Tundo said. “Any time you play Rochester it’s going to be a battle, but we’re really excited about it this year. We’ll be ready to go. It’s going to be a very good game.”
Janusziewicz added, “It’s really our goal to win the section every year, but this year our main goal is to win a state championship. Everyone is pretty hyped up to play Penfield again.”
Matt Colicchia, Steve Weppner, Alex Dietsch, Michael Roth and Collin Chodora each had a goal for Clarence (12-6), which was making its fourth consecutive finals appearance. The Red Devils’ lone win came in 2011.
John Januszkiewicz had six goals, Mitch Wilson won 12 draws and Taylor Ferrino made 22 saves for the top-seeded Quakers in a 14-5 win over No. 2 Clarence in the Class A championship game before an estimated 400 at Hamburg’s Howe Field on Wednesday.
The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night at All High Stadium, but inclement weather caused the postponement. The sectional title is OP’s 21st in the last 23 years.
“I thought our goalie made some real good early saves to keep them off the board, Johnny had a big game – a great first half, we were pretty patient and moved the ball on offense, our faceoff guy was excellent and our defense was just awesome,” said Quakers coach Gene Tundo, who eclipsed the 500-win mark earlier this season. “Everything really added up today and I just think we’re that much better than them.”
Januszkiewicz, a senior attackman, netted five goals in the opening half to help OP build a 9-0 lead. Tim Wagner, Chris Murphy, Spencer Cromwell and Mitch Wilson also netted goals, a vast majority of which were scored after faceoff wins by Wilson, who has signed with VMI.
OP continued the onslaught into the third quarter with a couple of early goals by Ralph Pagliei. Early in the fourth, Januszkiewicz netted his sixth before Kevin Goltz and Pagliei rounded out the scoring for the winners.
“We knew exactly what we wanted to do on offense today,” Januszkiewicz said. “We started by initiating things down low and then we let our attack finish in front. We knew Ralph had a size advantage and I knew I could run right by my guy. We had the advantage down low all day long.”
If there was one area of concern for the Quakers it would be the amount of penalties they were whistled for. Ferrino and Co., though, bailed out OP time and time again. The Lynn University signee made a handful of huge point-blank saves, several of which he stopped with his shins.
“Taylor was really good today,” Januszkiewicz said. “He always seems to step up for the playoffs. He really carried us.”
Tundo also praised the play of defenders Nick Bammel, Connor Eddy and Matt Perla, long-stick midfielder John Wellington and defensive midfielders A.J. Pismarov and Ben Holmes.
OP (17-1) has won 16 straight games, including three wins over the Red Devils, since a 10-3 defeat at the hands of Saturday’s Far West Regional opponent, Penfield of Section V (Rochester area).
“I can’t wait for Saturday,” Tundo said. “Any time you play Rochester it’s going to be a battle, but we’re really excited about it this year. We’ll be ready to go. It’s going to be a very good game.”
Janusziewicz added, “It’s really our goal to win the section every year, but this year our main goal is to win a state championship. Everyone is pretty hyped up to play Penfield again.”
Matt Colicchia, Steve Weppner, Alex Dietsch, Michael Roth and Collin Chodora each had a goal for Clarence (12-6), which was making its fourth consecutive finals appearance. The Red Devils’ lone win came in 2011.
