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caption, page 9:
Connecticut Valley League Champions. Courtesy photo.
Lacrosse team wins the crown
Going into post season play, the #6 seed Pomfret Senior “B” Youth Lacrosse team had a simple task: defeat the #3, #2 and #1 teams in sequence, all undefeated, in order to claim the championship.
First on the docket in the quarterfinals was the Longmeadow Blue team. This was a very even game that went down to the last second of play. The teams ended the first quarter tied 1-1. Longmeadow would score first, but Pomfret’s Cris Rovero would counter on an end-to-end rush that knotted the score.
The second quarter would be much the same. One team would make a run and the other would come right back to tie it up. Longmeadow recorded the second goal of the game, and then Pomfret would string three goals together to go up by two. In that run, Evan Cunningham would get two unassisted goals, and Tucker Johns would score his first of the day on an assist by Max Paro. Before the half was over, though, Longmeadow would get two of their own to even the score at 4-4.
In the third, the Pomfret defense made a stand and took over the game. Goalie Jonathan Hummer and long-stick defenders Rovero, Jake Phaneuf, Conor Quinn, Mason Defocy and Josh Bernier dominated play and shut down the Longmeadow attack. In the meantime, Pomfret would score three unassisted goals (two by Tucker Johns and one by Robert Totten) to take a 7-4 lead into the final quarter. Attackmen Jake Mueller and Cuinn Stevenson provided quality minutes in this stretch to help pad the Pomfret lead.
In the last quarter, Pomfret’s offense was quieted and Longmeadow chipped away at the deficit. A man-up goal early in the frame made the score 7-5, and then another Longmeadow goal with five minutes left on the clock made the score 7-6. All bets were off at this point in the game as Longmeadow had established momentum. Solid defensive play by midfielders Johnny Currie, Chapin Cheney and Kyle Prouty helped hold Longmeadow at bay, and the team willed the clock to run faster. With a minute left, Longmeadow was awarded a man-up opportunity, but great work by the man-down unit killed off the penalty and propelled Pomfret into the semifinal game.
In semifinal action, Pomfret matched up with West Hartford Blue. Pomfret was short seven eighth-graders for the day that were on a school trip, but the 7th graders and few remaining 8th graders dominated play and racked up a 10-3 victory.
The score was 2-0 after the first quarter on goals from Evan Cunningham (assisted by Mason Defocy) and Cris Rovero (assisted by Max Paro). The game would remain close through the second quarter, as Pomfret only scored once when Paro would find Cunningham on a pretty cut to the net.
With a 3-0 lead at half, what had become obvious was that it wasn’t so much that Pomfret was the stronger team, it was that Pomfret had the stronger defense. West Hartford had much more possession time than Pomfret did, but they just couldn’t get quality shots on net. Leading the defensive charge was goalie Conor Quinn. Conor volunteered to step in for Jonathan Hummer, who was on the school trip, and did a fabulous job. The long-sticks in front of him were Mason Defocy, Jake Phaneuf and Josh Bernier. This group of four deserves the game ball for all the unselfish play they put together from first whistle to last.
In the third quarter, Pomfret put the game away with four unanswered goals. Ryan Black would get two on assists from Cunningham and Paro, and Rovero and Cahan Quinn would each notch one apiece to push the score to 7-0 going into the last stanza. During that run, Sam Paul, William Liscomb, Lex Bosio, Cuinn Stevenson and Bruce Dexter played important roles as their play added depth to the Pomfret team which was starting to feel the effects of the heat and limited roster.
In the last frame, West Hartford would get on the board three times, but Pomfret would always counter. Cahan Quinn would get his second of the day on a great assist from Isaiah Price, and then Paro would score his first off a Cunningham feed. The day was emphatically put to a close when Zach Gagnon threaded the needle to Cal Wilcox in the crease for the team’s 10th goal of the day.
In the championship June 10, Pomfret matched up with Longmeadow White, a team that had beaten them back in early May. This would again be a very close contest from start to finish. In the first quarter, Evan Cunningham would get the team rolling on an unassisted goal on a man-up play. Later in the period, Pomfret would get another man-up opportunity, and this time Cris Rovero would convert. Longmeadow would come right back with a goal of their own, but Pomfret would take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Both teams could not find the back of the net in the second quarter as defense was the name of the game. Longmeadow’s goalie was outstanding, making numerous big saves, but Pomfret’s goalie Jonathan Hummer was equal to the task, and the teams closed out the half with the score still 2-1.
The third quarter, which has been Pomfret’s strong period over the course of the playoffs, continued to be productive. Rovero would get another unassisted goal to put the team up 3-1, but Longmeadow would immediately come back on a man-up situation to make the score 3-2. Then Longmeadow would be flagged for successive penalties which Pomfret would capitalize on. On the first man-up, Cunningham would receive a pass from Cahan Quinn and burry one top corner, and then on the second man-up opportunity, Evan would score again on a nice assist from Max Paro. This gave Pomfret a 5-2 lead going into the last stanza.
The fourth quarter saw Pomfret play smart lacrosse and use the clock to its advantage. Longmeadow would score one goal on another man-up play, but that was all the scoring that would happen. Pomfret would eat up time with solid possessions, Jonathan Hummer would make a big save, and the team would pour onto the field at the last whistle with a 5-3 victory and a Connecticut Valley League championship.