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caption, page 9:
Champs
The Pomfret Youth Boys’ Junior B Lacrosse team finished their season as the Connecticut Valley Youth Lacrosse League champions. Courtesy photo.
'Not going
home without
a trophy'
Pomfret Youth Boys’
Junior B Lacrosse
League Champions
The Pomfret Youth Boys’ Junior B Lacrosse team finished their season as the Connecticut Valley Youth Lacrosse League champions. The team, made up of local 10- and 11-year-olds, were the fifth seed going into the tournament.
June 6 the Pomfret team opened their playoff season with a dominate 14-4 quarterfinal victory over fourth-seed Monson, Mass. Pomfret would begin the scoring early in the first quarter when Peyton Durand scored off a Max Paro assist. Soon after that, Pomfret’s Tucker Sheehan made it 2-0 off a Durand assist. Monson would come right back, though, and make it 2-1 right before the quarter ran out.
In the second quarter, Pomfret would notch four unanswered goals and never look back. Scoring unassisted goals were Max Paro, William Liscomb and Isaiah Price; Josh McFadden would tally the fourth off a nice feed from Sheehan. Monson would get a late goal to make the score 6-2 going into the half.
In the third quarter, Pomfret would go on another run, scoring five unanswered goals in that 10-minute span. Ryan Black, Josh McFadden, Tucker Sheehan, Corbin Schneider and Nick Alessandro each added to the scoring; assists went to Sheehan (2), Price and Alessandro. Really stepping up in that period was the defense. Goalie Marcos Castillo was sharp, and the close defense of Sam Paul, Conor Quinn, Lex Bosio, Ryan Gravier and Josh Bernier consistently caused Monson to turn the ball over, thus creating offensive rushes by the Pomfret midfielders.
In the final stanza, Monson would score early and late, but sandwiched between their two goals were three by Pomfret. Crobin Schneider scored two unassisted goals while Josh McFadden would cap off his hat-trick on a feed from Carson Hadley. Deserving credit for the convincing win were midfielders Zach Gagnon, Christian Santangini and Cal Wilcox. The trio was around the ball all afternoon and created havoc every time Monson would attempt a comeback! The win earned the team a quarterfinal game vs. Simsbury June 11 in Longmeadow, Mass.
In the semifinal game, Pomfret carried over their scoring touch from the Monson game and put away number 1 seed Simsbury by the score of 14-5. It would be 7-0 midway through the second quarter before Simsbury would score their first goal. Pomfret goalie Marcos Castillo was outstanding in the first half, turning aside seven shots. In the scoring column for Pomfret during that stretch were Ryan Black with four goals, Tucker Sheehan with two goals and Max Paro with one. Assists went to Peyton Durand with two and William Liscomb, Paro and Sheehan each with one. Right before the first-half whistle blew, Paro would score his second goal of the game and lead the team into the locker room with an 8-2 lead.
In the second half, the Pomfret goaltending duties were handed off to Corbin Schneider. Schneider took over where Castillo had left off, making six saves while only give up three goals. Scorers for Pomfret during the second half were Sheehan with two and Cal Wilcox, Christian Santangini, Black and Liscomb each with one. Assists went to Durand with two and Nick Alessandro with one. Defensemen Mason Defocy, Conor Quinn, Lex Bosio, Josh Bernier and Ryan Gravier cleared the ball extremely well, allowing Colin LeSage, Zach Gagnon, Josh McFadden, Isaiah Price and Carson Hadley easy transitions into the Pomfret offensive end.
Earning their way into the league championship game, Pomfret would match up with number 6 seed Glastonbury June 12 back in Longmeadow. Win or lose, this would be the Pomfret squad’s last game of the season, and they weren’t about to go home without the trophy.
In the first quarter, Pomfret would score first on a Peyton Durand from Ryan Black blast, but Glastonbury came right back with a goal of their own. Pomfret countered with the next two goals, one by Tucker Sheehan and one by Christian Santangini (both assists went to Black). Glastonbury would not fold, though, and responded with two goals of its own to knot the score at 3-3. Right before the end of the quarter, Pomfret’s Cal Wilcox would grab the lead back on as assist from Max Paro.
The second quarter saw Glastonbury score first and tie up the contest 4-4. This was when Pomfret’s defensive unit of Josh Bernier, Ryan Gravier, Mason Defocy, Conor Quinn and Lex Bosio stepped up in front of goalie Josh McFadden and controlled the tempo of the play. Their good defense and strong clears, especially by Bernier and Quinn, allowed Pomfret the next two goals. Black would score his first of the game from Wilcox, and Paro would score unassisted to give the team a 6-4 advantage going into the half.
In the second half the Pomfret goaltending duties were handed off to Corbin Schneider, but it was all Glastonbury to start. They scored the first there goals of the half and took a 7-6 lead. The Pomfret team had not been behind in the whole tournament and responded by taking the lead back on a Black from Wilcox goal and a Paro unassisted snipe. Again, though, Glastonbury responded to tie the game 8-8 going into the final ten minutes of play.
In the final stanza Pomfret midfielders Zach Gagnon, William Liscomb, Nick Alessandro and Isaiah Price supplied valuable minutes as did attackmen Carson Hadley, Colin LeSage and Marcos Castillo. It was a Paro to Wilcox combination, though, that put the team ahead, and then Black would up the lead to two just a minute later. Glastonbury clawed back again with their only fourth-quarter goal to cut the Pomfret lead to one with just three minutes remaining. In those final three minutes, Pomfret would ice the game on a Paro unassisted goal and a Durand from Paro rocket to emphatically put the game in the win column at 12-9 for Pomfret.
The Pomfret Youth B Lacrosse league record was 10-2 and their overall season record closed with a record of 16-3-1.