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05/14/2014 12:00 AMWith the spring season well past the halfway point, spectators are starting to see a glimpse of what the boys' lacrosse postseason might look like and those attending the match-up between Valley Regional and Morgan on the afternoon of May 5 in Deep River got quite an eyeful.
After falling to the Huskies at Indian River Complex on April 14, the Warriors were determined to get their revenge against a squad with a similar record and earned the 10-9 victory from junior attack Ben Ferrucci's game-winner with less than three minutes remaining in the contest, with a lot of help from Valley's defense.
"It was a very good feeling knowing I put the game-winner in. Once we got the ball settled in offense, we knew what we had to do and I was in the right place at the right time," said Ferrucci, who scored six goals in the game. "It was a huge win-it was not only a confidence booster, but it proved to the rest of the team if we can beat a team like Morgan, why can't we beat top teams in the state? We come off a tough loss versus Lewis Mills, so getting this win was a huge confidence booster. Our goal was to beat Morgan, so now Somers is next."
Coach Paul Ferrucci implied he had confidence in the squad from the get-go and feels his team is coming together at the right time.
"After the first game, the assistant coaches and I told the team we felt we could beat Morgan," said Coach Ferrucci. "To do so, we would need to improve our defensive schemes and create more opportunities on offense rather than trying to beat your man and taking the shot. We needed to work as a group at both ends of the field. Offensively, we were successful moving when we didn't have the ball. We still have work left to do on both of those defensive points, but the improvement we made from the first Morgan game to this game is a big reason we limited Morgan to nine goals."
The Warriors (7-2) got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Jake Cuccaro (2 goals, 1 assist) 14 seconds in on an assist by senior captain and midfielder Jake Luster (who led the team in ground balls with 9) before the Huskies tied it up at the 8:20 mark on a goal by Alex Best, assisted by Joe Lee. Valley then went ahead 2-1 on an unassisted goal by attackman Kevin Cole (2 goals, 2 assists) with 7:36 left to play in the first quarter, however, Morgan continued to fight back and tied it up again with Mateo Zumpano's score on an assist by Best with five minutes remaining. Ferrucci answered at the 3:15 mark on an assist by Cole to pull the Warriors ahead again, 3-2, but again, Morgan tied it up with Zumpano's goal on an assist by Best with a little over two minutes left in the quarter. The Warriors were determined to keep their lead as Cole scored again to put Valley up 4-3, but the Huskies' offense worked overtime and brought the ball back downfield as Chris Waterbury tied it up on an assist by Pat McAlister to bring the score to 4-4 at the end of the first.
Valley scored first again in the second on an unassisted score by Cuccaro and the Warriors continued its offensive surge with Ferrucci's goal, which gave Valley its first real cushion of the contest with a 6-4 lead. Morgan then pulled to within one again on an unassisted goal by Lee and the Warriors answered with 5:07 left on another unassisted score by Ferrucci. Waterbury then hit his mark on an assist by Luke Alfano and the score was 7-6 going into halftime.
The Huskies' defense played a spectacular third quarter, holding Valley to just one goal as Ferrucci's unassisted score was the only one for the Warriors. Morgan's Lee notched both of the Huskies' goals in the third to end the quarter tied again at 8-8.
The Warriors took the lead once again just 10 seconds in when Ferrucci notched his fifth goal of the match-up and Morgan's Lee scored his fourth goal to tie it up. Valley reclaimed the advantage just a minute later on another Ferrucci goal in front of the goal on an assist by Cole, which proved to be the game-winner as Morgan turned the ball over in Valley's defensive end with almost two minutes remaining in the game on a Morgan penalty. With two minutes left and a one-goal lead, Valley tried to control the ball with a man advantage, but turned the ball over. However, the Huskies unsuccessfully tried to advance the ball on offense and turned the ball over again, leading to Valley's 10-9 victory. Spencer Russo had 12 saves in goal for the Warriors, while Alex Eimutus had 18 for Morgan.
"Ben scored most of his goals by moving when he didn't have the ball, getting open, and creating the opportunity to take a close shot in front of the goal. Morgan is too athletic to get beat one-on-one. We set a lot of off-ball picks to get open," said Coach Ferrucci. "On the defensive side, we continually tell the middies and defenseman two things; first, don't get beat far from the goal [up front or behind], and second, don't make mistakes and cause a penalty. Our defense came up very big at the end of the game, not allowing the Morgan offense to get into a set play or a one-man attempt at the goal."
Senior captain Luster knows how important a win like this is for his squad and hopes the Warriors can continue the momentum in the last weeks of the season.
"It was really exciting. We played them earlier in the season-we feel we held our own, but Morgan is always the team to beat," said Luster. "We've had them circled on our calendar since that game. We are coming off a three-game win streak and are feeling good. We played our game-one of the biggest things was we played as a team and it's what won the game as a team. It solidified that if we play as a team, we can achieve great things."