These are the games that John Jay boys lacrosse head coach Nick Savastano feels will make his Indians a better team in the long run.
Niskayuna’s defense shut down the potent John Jay offense and got 15 saves in goal from James Manchester and held on for a 9-5 win over the Indians on May 3 at Union College in Schenectady.
“They’re very well coached and they played a great game,” Savastano said of the Warriors. “Their defense was tremendous and their goalie played out of his mind. We had at least four or five one-on-ones with him and every time we either plunked the pipe or shot it right into his stick.”
Tyler Granelli led John Jay with a goal and three assists, while Chris Bocklet, Will Stewart, Harrison Jones and Billy LaPerch all found the net once for the Indians.
The Warriors improved to a perfect 11-0 on the season.
After John Jay jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Niskayuna controlled the tempo of the game throughout with a very patient offense that ate up the clock and kept the ball out of the Indians’ hands.
And, when the Indians did possess the ball, their unselfishness, usually a positive, actually hurt them.
“We just couldn’t get anything going the rest of the half,” explained Savastano. “In this game, our unselfishness really hurt us. We would always look to make that extra pass and their defense would either pick that one off or the goalie would end up reading the play and making the save.”
After surrendering the first two goals of the game, Niskayuna answered with the next four tallies to grad a 4-2 halftime lead.
The teams then split the six goals scored in the third quarter.
Chris Latino had a strong game in goal for the Indians with 13 saves.
“Our defense played well. They only gave up nine goals and we always tell the team that we need to hold them under 10 because our offense should be able to find a way to score 10,” said Savastano. “I think the defense is really coming together. Right now, we have to find a way to jump-start our offense.”
Whatever Savastano said to the offense certainly paid dividends on May 6 when the Indians routed host Suffern, 15-2.
The win was John Jay’s 47th in a row against Section I opponents, and improved its overall record to 10-3.
The Indians led 4-1 after one quarter and 9-2 at halftime.
Harrison Jones scored five goals to pace the Indians, while Billy LaPerch found the net four times. Chris Bocklet and Tyler Granelli each had a goal and four assists. Will Stewart had a goal and an assist for the Indians, who also got single tallies from Lucas Durst, Kevin Drew and Ryan Lett, while Andrew Masterson had two assists and Harrison Silver one helper.
Latino gave up two goals and made eight saves in three quarters of action in goal for the Indians. Robert Maher (two saves) and Dylan (one save) split the final quarter for John Jay.
