Albertus Boys Lacrosse Falls to Nanuet in Final Game of Season

The Albertus Falcons fell to the Knights of Nanuet High School on Wednesday in their last game of the boys lacrosse season, 21-0. 

This was a very difficult season for the Falcons, who have struggled to compete in their new division against much larger schools with more  competitive programs.  Though their season closed with a record of 1-13, they put up a valiant effort while having fun and practicing the fundamentals of the sport. 

They look to continue to improve in the next year and hope to establish a feeder program eventually, which will give the team more experienced players.  Without the benefit of a feeder program, they will continue to have difficulty against the schools in their new division where such programs are staples.

The Falcons played well defensively, crowding any cutters and hassling players on the perimeter to not allow them easy shots.  Unfortunately for the Falcons, their opponents got so much possession time, and as a result 49 shots on the goal, that they were able to score 21 goals.  Without the excellent effort from senior goalie Dan Palazzo, who had 16 saves, the Knights would have had a much higher shot percentage.

Nanuet was able to maintain possession for so much of the game due in part to their solid passing and play-execution.  They also were able to control the face-off while grabbing most of the rebounds and ground balls.  The Falcons unfortunately were unable to execute effectively on offense.  This caused turnovers and allowed the Knights more time in possession and thus more goal attempts.

Albertus had difficulties with accurate passing and catching of the ball, as well as with timing.  Though they were able to force turnovers and get interceptions, they many times hung onto the ball too long, with a single player trying to do too much.  As a result, when they did pass it was often when they were in trouble and had to rush a pass to a teammate.  This would hurt the accuracy of their passing attempts and selection of receivers. 

To compound the Falcons offensive difficulties, the Knights were playing very aggressively on defense, constantly double-teaming and looking for the interception.  This made any pass, except for a short perimeter pass, very difficult to complete.  Due to their limited time on offense and the scrappy defense from their opponent, the Falcons only got four shots on the goal.  As a result, the first quarter concluded 5-0, followed by the second 10-0, the third 18-0, and the fourth with a final score for the game of 21-0.

With a record now of 5-10, the Knights were clearly the favorite going into the game.  The Falcons are used to being the underdog and still played hard to the best of their ability the entire game, which is the most you can ask of any team.  Though they had a tough season, it was also a fun and enjoyable one.  At half-time they had a heartfelt ceremony, commemorating the Albertus lacrosse experience by honoring their graduating senior core. 

Coach Widmer had this to say of the difficult season: "We had some competitive games, but a tougher schedule this year and so we couldn't really compete against the larger schools."