Fox Lane rally falls one goal short against Tappan Zee

Luke Valenti comes up with a save in goal for the Foxes. Ryan Hardie takes aim for a shot against Tappan Zee. Will Broghammer controls a ground ball off the draw. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

One goal at a time, one save at a time, one possession, the Fox Lane boys varsity lacrosse team was staging a comeback in the fourth quarter as the Foxes hosted Tappan Zee on March 30.

Tappan Zee had opened up a 5-2 lead early in the fourth quarter, but all of a sudden the Foxes started making big plays up and down the field. The Foxes trailed by one in the final minutes and had a couple of opportunities to tie it up, but couldn’t get that final goal and ended up suffering a 6-5 setback to the Dutchmen.

“Tappan Zee is a tough team and we knew we would have our work cut out for us, and our guys rose to the occasion,” said Fox Lane coach Charlie Rice. “The younger guys stepped up, seeing Sam Randol, Finn Cahillane, and Sean Fabry all score was good to see. In terms of buying in to what we do, I think we took a step forward today. We’re almost there.”

Fox Lane kept it close throughout the game as both defenses were up to the challenge in a low-scoring affair for three quarters.

It was tied up at 1-1 at the end of the first quarter as Cahillane scored a goal for the Foxes, and Luke Valenti anchored the defense in goal with a bunch of big saves.

Tappan Zee scored a pair of goals to take a 3-1 lead in the second quarter, but Fabry scored for the Foxes with 1:16 left before the half to cut the lead down to 3-2. The Foxes controlled the ensuing face off and got off a shot to try and tie it up in the final seconds but couldn’t bury it in the net heading into halftime trailing by one.

The third quarter was a defensive battle as neither team scored, heading into the final period with the Dutchmen clinging to the 3-2 lead. However, Tappan Zee controlled the opening face off and went down the field and scored to make it 4-2. About 30 seconds later they did it again, controlling the ensuing draw and scoring to take control with a 5-2 lead at the 10:53 mark of the fourth.

Fox Lane answered with its 10 best minutes of the game as the Foxes came alive. Randol scored off a nice feed from Drew Nathan to make it 5-3 at 8:51. Tappan Zee answered right back with a goal a minute later to make it 6-3, but the Foxes didn’t slow down.

Nathan scored off an assist from Fabry to make it 6-4 at 6:46. After Justin Cohen won the ensuing face off, 20 seconds later it was Nathan scoring again, this time off a nice feed from Randol to make it 6-5.

“This team didn’t put their heads down and that’s something we challenged them about, how do you respond when things go bad,” Rice said of the fourth quarter. “They did a good job rising to the occasion when their backs were against the wall. We were rolling a bit, pushing transition, guys playing hard off the ball to score some goals. That fourth quarter offense is something to build on for us, keep building. We have a lot of new pieces on offense and they played well.”

Rice also credited his defense for a strong game from start to finish, led by Valenti in the goal as he finished with 13 saves for the Foxes.

“Having Luke in goal is so great for us, he came up with a lot of big saves,” Rice said of Valenti. “Defensively, Will Broghammer played great, he was all over the field causing turnovers, leading the transition. Eddie Lopez, Owen Heilman, Teddy Kao, all the guys on defense were playing tough. Leo Crisostomo, our D-middie, played great today. The defense really did their job.”

Fox Lane had one more game scheduled over the break for Wednesday, April 1, on the road at Clarkstown South.