April
22, 2007
OAKLAND -- Chris Piccione is a classic example of what high school sports is all about. Little more than a reserve player last season for the Indian Hills lacrosse team, he plied his trade last summer and worked hard, knowing that opportunity would come his way this year.
Graduation had left three holes in the Braves’ offense, and Piccione has made the most of his chances. On Saturday morning, he proved his value with four goals in the first 16 minutes to spark Hills to a 17-4 defeat of Pascack Valley,
The Braves are now 5-2 (4-2 in the NBIL), and are off to a good start, and it is no coincidence that they’re picking up steam as Piccione picks up confidence.
“He’s played great, and he’s gotten better and better,” IH head coach Bob Sutherland related. “He loves to drive it from behind and he can beat a kid and finish. When he gets in front of the cage, he’s not afraid to take that extra step.”
The Braves had a 4-0 lead in the first period, with Zac Smith getting the first goal on a cross-field pass from Jordan Saracena with IH a man up with 7:58 to go. It became 2-0 when Keith Berliner grabbed a Valley turnover and found Piccione at the right post with 4:41 left.
Saracena then picked up the faceoff and went down the middle to score unassisted seven seconds later. When Berliner cashed in a Piccione pass with a run from the left goal line with 38 seconds to go, the four-goal lead was established.
Pascack Valley (2-5) scored at the first period horn, as Kyle Baldwin fed Matt Johnson five yards out to the left of the Hills net. The score didn’t keep Indian head coach Chris Nerkizian from admonishing his team’s slow start, something that has plagued PV in each of its losses.
They has squandered three man up chances in the opening period thanks to some poor passing, and missed out on another at the onset of the second period. Still, they closed to 4-2 when Baldwin made a steal of a bad clearance and deposited the ball past IH goalie Scott Schwaner.
Piccione then took over, scoring the next three goals, all on shots either behind his back or over the shoulder.
“The guys make fun of me because I don’t even look half the time,” he said of what is becoming something of a signature move. “It’s instinct when I’m coming across the crease. It’s peripheral vision, I guess.”
On the first, he came from behind and across the crease, and on the second he scooped a loose ball in front and went over the shoulder in one motion. That score was set up by an end-to-end clearing run by Matt Iannucci.
With 3:08 left, he made it 7-2, taking a pass from Chris Dell’Amore in front and besting Valley goaltender Rich Bedford.
The Braves all but put the game away with four more goals before halftime, including three in the final 38 seconds, as they took advantage of Piccione’s early scoring binge.
Another Iannucci clearing run set up Saracena’s assist to Berliner with 2:18 to go, then Smith fed Saracena from behind with 38 ticks left. Indian Hills won the next two faceoffs and scored immediately, with Saracena getting one at :31 and Bruce Pirie another at :20.
“When he comes around and scores, it makes the defense defend against him more,” Saracena offered. “They have to slide down, and it opens up things. That’s how Keith got his goals.”
“I think we have our strongest team since I’ve been here,” Sutherland said. “They have a tremendous work ethic. I can give them a long, hard practice and they never complain. It’s almost as if the tougher it gets, the more focused they are.”
Saracena ended up with four goals and three assists and Piccione and Berliner each tallied four goals and two assists. Piccione now has 21 goals on the year after scoring just two last year. James Gipetti and Smith each had two goals.
“They talk to each other and they have a real good handle on what we are doing,” Sutherland said of his attack and middies. “They have a good understanding of the game.”
The Braves offense has also allowed its defense to get some valuable game time under less pressure. Senior Dell’Amore is a first year player, senior James Rossi is a second year player and junior Greg Lehman was a goaltender last year (he had a save in 1:03 in net when Schwaner had a penalty).
“They’ve improved so much throwing, catching and clearing, and that’s a big part of it,” Saracena noted. “We’re talking and working together, and that’s what we need to do.”
Valley played without the services of leading scorer Bobby Heaney, who was sitting out the second game of his suspension for an ejection last week, and they lost junior defender Chris Vogel with 1:53 left in the third quarter to a neck injury. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital for precautionary examination.
Mike Holl had the two Valley goals in the second half. The Indians did take 30 shots, but many were off target. Schwaner had 12 saves for Indian Hills, while Bedford had 11 in three quarters for Pascack Valley. Doug Kreiger played the fourth quarter between the pipes.
With the North Jersey Lacrosse Invitational tournament beginning next Sunday, the Braves will have their chance to prove their mettle, as they search for that win over a strong team that will catapult them into the role of contender.
“When we play our best game, I’ll play a lot of teams and I won’t be afraid,” Sutherland expressed.
“If we show up to play, and we prepare right, we can take on bigger teams and take it to the next level,” Saracena remarked. “I say it every game in the (pre-game) huddle. We have to wake up and show up.”
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
|
|
|
| About Us | Contact Us | Home |
Questions?
E-mail the editor editor@northjerseysports.com
All contents © copyright 2004-2007 HSSportsWeb.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
