LaRusso’s Goal Lifts Elmira Past Cazenovia, 9-8 in Overtime
Cazenovia, NY -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team trailed by a one goal with less than eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter but a goal by
Skyler Pradelski '16 would force overtime, allowing
Anthony LaRusso '17 to score the game-winning goal in the extra period, as the Soaring Eagles claimed a 9-8 win over Cazenovia College.
Pradelski scored the game-tying goal with 7:53 to play in the fourth quarter, his second goal of the afternoon, knotting things up at 8-8. However, the Soaring Eagles nearly saw today's game end in regulation as a shot by Cazenovia's Kyle Kingsley rattled off the post with less than two minutes to play.
Elmira's
Josh Taylor '15 won a crucial faceoff to start the overtime period, which allowed the Soaring Eagles to get into their offense zone and call a timeout. It would only take 29 seconds after the timeout for LaRusso to score, with teammate
Eric Hallman '15 assisting on the game-winning goal, giving the Purple and Gold their first win of the 2015 season.
LaRusso tied his career-high with four points on a career-best three goals and one assist. Hallman finished with three points on one goal and two assists but it was his play off the ball that really stood out as he collected a career-high seven ground balls.
PJ Tessier '17 and Pradelski were Elmira's other two multi-point scorers as they both finished with two. Tessier scored a pair of goals, one of which came with a man-up, while Pradelski tallied one goal and assist.
Also with standout games today was netminder
Wyatt Katsos '17, Taylor, and
Jeff Ahlgrim '18. Katsos finished with 10 saves today, marking his second consecutive game with double-digit saves, en route to the third win of his Elmira career. Taylor on the other hand had a monster day in the faceoff circle, winning 14-of-21 faceoffs while picking up three ground balls. Ahlgrim also chipped-in with six ground balls.
Taylor opened today's game by winning the first three faceoffs, as the Soaring Eagles scored on each of the faceoff wins to take a 3-0 lead through the game's first four minutes. Cazanovia would answer at the 11 minute mark with their first goal of the game but Elmira would close out the first quarter by outscoring the Wildcats 3-to-1, taking a convincing 6-2 lead into the first break.
LaRusso registered three of his game's four points in the first quarter, scoring twice and assisting on another, while Hallman assisted on one goal and scored an unassisted goal, one that came with just nine seconds remaining in the quarter.
Cazenovia did a better job in the second quarter on faceoffs, winning 3-of-6 chances, which ultimately proved to be a key factor in the quarter as Elmira saw their four-goal lead turn into a 7-6 deficit thanks to five unanswered Wildcat goals. A key statistic in the quarter was shot attempts, as Cazenovia outshot Elmira 11-to-4, putting six of their 11 attempts on frame.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net, including Cazenovia who held an 8-to-0 advantage in shots. Elmira's Katsos was the main factor in keeping it a one-goal game as he made five of his game's 10 saves in the quarter.
At the 11:50 mark of the fourth quarter, EC's Tessier ended Elmira's scoring drought as he tallied his second goal of the afternoon, tying things up at 7-7 on a man-up opportunity. However, 1:36 later, Cazenovia would score a man-up goal of their own to reclaim their one-goal lead.
Thankfully, EC's Pradelski evened the game at 8-8 with 7:53 to play in regulation. In the closing 7:53, Elmira would outshoot Cazenovia 5-to-2, putting four of their five shots on goal, but Cazenovia's Alex Delavan would come up with saves on all four of EC's shots on goal, keeping it a tied game. Cazenovia on the other hand nearly scored the game-winner as they had a shot carom of the post in the final two minutes, but thankfully Elmira was able to weather the storm and force overtime.
In the overtime period, Elmira would earn a faceoff win, which ultimately turned into a goal by LaRusso just 40 seconds into overtime as the Soaring Eagles marched away with a thrilling 9-8 overtime win.
The Soaring Eagles will be back in action this Wednesday, March 18th, as the EC men travel to take on Brockport State in a non-conference game. Faceoff is set for 4:00 p.m. in Brockport, NY.