North Boys Lacrosse Falls to South in Hard-Fought Match

Clarkstown North boys lacrosse had a big game this week against Clarkstown South. 

Both teams came in amped up to play hard on the rainy afternoon, energized by the hometown rivalry that is always present when the two schools match up.  While both teams gave it their all, South executed more effectively on both ends of the field.  They maintained possession of the ball for a majority of the game, which assisted their offense by allowing them more shot opportunities.  They worked hard defensively to force turnovers, which again added to the amount of time that they spent in possession of the ball.

The Rams played very well defensively, however they could not get their offense going.  A large part of this was due to the fact that South effectively lowered their time in possession of the ball by hustling on defense and taking the time to set up offensive plays.  This lowered the amount of shot attempts that North had. 

To make things more difficult for the Rams, the scrappy defense displayed by South forced North to rush offensive plays in order to not get the ball checked away.  This forced them to make a lot of tough passes, which is where many of the turnovers happened.

The first quarter started off with two goals from South, followed by a great pass from #5 Chris Whelan to #14 Vincent Barbetto on the cut who shot and scored.  Both teams buckled down defensively at this point, with goalies on both sides making some great saves to close out the quarter still 2-1.

The second quarter began with a goal from South to make the score 3-2.  North won the face-off and retaliated with a goal of their own.  This time it was Barbetto to Whelan who shot from mid-range to bring the game within one.  The half concluded with only two more goals from South, thanks in a large part to a great effort from goalie David Toporek.

With the score now 5-2, both teams retook the field at the half with cries of "let's go!"  Their eyes set on the win, both teams had a number of excellent, high-energy plays.  Despite good hustle on defense, the Rams could not maintain control on offense and scored only one to South's two goals.

South won the game with a score of 9-3 to bring their record to 5-9.  This was the fourteenth game for the Rams, who have had a difficult season with a record of 1-13.  Coach Fitzgerald summed up the game by saying, "Both teams played well but South wanted it more."