Wednesday, April 15, 2015

By Cory Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Junior Jimmy Spillane lost just one faceoff all day for Pascack Valley, which controlled possession all the way through its 11-5, wire-to-wire victory on the road at Demarest .

DEMAREST – What sets lacrosse apart from most other sports is that neither team is guaranteed the opportunity to play offense. There is no kickoff after a touchdown, no third out that gets the team in to hit, no taking the ball out under the basket after the opponent scores. If a lacrosse team scores and wins the ensuing faceoff, it is technically possible to go the full 48 minutes without ever giving up possession to the other side.

That type of perfect game is probably impossible to pull off, it does illustrate the importance of having a quality faceoff man, a player like Pascack Valley junior Jimmy Spillane. Spillane won all but one of faceoffs that he took and allowed the Indians to dictate the game, an 11-5 win on the road at Northern Valley/Demarest on Tuesday afternoon.

“I try to win the draw myself as much as possible, but it really comes down to my wing guys. Off the clamp I lost a couple of times today, but it was up to them to go get the ball and they did,” said Spillane. “I love having the pressure of having to win the faceoff for us. I have been training faceoffs for the last three years pretty intensively and it’s great to see it really starting to pay off now.”

With Spillane providing the early opportunities and a man-advantage adding an extra bonus, Zach Beja darted out from behind the net and scored 3:39 into the game to give Pascack Valley the lead for good. Beja scored three times in the first quarter and Chris Miele added a goal off an assist from Brian Horvath to grab a 4-1 lead after 12 minutes and forcing Demarest to try to play catch-up without being able to win draws.

Thomas Abe made 18 saves, 13 of them in the first half to help keep Demarest in the game.

“The faceoff kid [Spillane] is a stud. Lacrosse is a possession and we were losing possessions,” said Demarest head coach Tony Mattolla. “Our defense was up against it for all four quarters and that is a tough way to play, but I thought, overall, that they did a great job. There were a lot of things that we did well today that we can build on.”

One of the highlights for Demarest was goaltender Thomas Abe (18 saves), who made 12 first half saves to keep his team hanging around. Pascack Valley scored the first two goals of the second period when Miele deposited one into the lower right and then scored again in a man-up situation off an assist from Mike Soravilla to go up 6-1, but Abe was getting his big basket on everything he could and the Norseman crept back in the game late in the first half.

Sean Jannson scored off an assist from Damian Faris and, with its first man-advantage of the game, Demarest got a goal from Jack Miller to cut its deficit to 6-3 and it was still down by three at 7-4 when Jannson put home a ricochet off the pipe for the first goal of the second half and grabbed the momentum. After a relatively quiet first half in which he made just one save, PV goalie Brandon Vallario saw his workload increase after the break and he was up to the task. Vallario made 13 second half stops to slow the Demarest charge.

Zach Beja's goal 3:39 into the game gave Pascack Valley the lead for good.

Spillane bounced in a goal to make it 8-4 after three quarters and the Indians scored three straight to open the fourth to stretch the lead back to 11-4. The last of those goals was a Spillane rip into the upper shelf with six minutes left.
The win moved the Indians to 6-1 on the season heading into a showdown with River Dell on Thursday. That game will go a long way toward deciding the league championship and that is a major item on Pascack Valley’s to-do list.

“We want to win our division and we know that we are going to have to get that one on Thursday if we want to have a shot at doing that and that is our first and primary goal,” said PV head coach Craig Buckley. “Our shooting percentage is going to have to be better than it was today if we want to win that game, but we did get a lot of shots and if we keep shooting at that pace then eventually they are going to drop. Hopefully they will on Thursday.”

Beja and Miele finished with four goals each for the Indians while Jannson scored three of the five goals for Demarest, which fell to 3-5 on the season. While Pascack Valley has shown it growth in building from a co-op program to a league title contender in the six years under Buckley, Demarest is trying to travel the same path.

And the potential is there.

“We are trying to build off of every opportunity that we get out here to play. The kids are starting to realize the energy level that they have to bring for all four quarters and that is why I was so excited in the last 30 seconds of the game. The kids were still fighting and still scrambling for the ball,” said Mattolla. “It is that mindset that we have to compete for 48 minutes and that is what we are trying to instill. PV is a good team, they have a lot going for them and I wish them well, but we are getting better and that is all that I can ask for.”

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