STAC LACROSSE: OWEGO STUMBLES AFTER STRONG START AGAINST HORSEHEADS (2010-04-16)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Horseheads went on a seven-goal run to wash away Owego’s hopes for victory in a steady rainstorm here Tuesday night.

The Blue Raiders rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the second quarter to post a 6-5 halftime lead, then kept the ball in the Indians’ end of the field for the majority of the second half in a 16-7 win.

“Lacrosse is a game of momentum swings and they got the momentum a little bit, and we started to run out of gas a little bit, I guess you could say,” said Owego head coach Andy Race said.

“We’re short on a couple of legs right now, a couple middies we’re missing, and that definitely hurt us. Hopefully, we can get those guys back soon and get back to full strength and play the way we know we can.”

Owego showed signs of early dominance as Justin Peacock scored an unassisted goal just 48 seconds after the initial face-off, and Jo Race and Cole Taylor scored just after the midway point of the period. Luke Maslin assisted on Race’s goal at 5:46 and Gio Cavataio fed Taylor 11 seconds later.

“We came out swinging,” said coach Race. “I was very happy with how they played overall, but that first quarter was definitely our best quarter of the night.”

Tyler Phelps scored on a pass from Connor Kinney at 2:48 to give the Indians a 4-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Horseheads regrouped in the second period as Gavin Elston scored three goals and dished out an assist, and the Raiders received two more goals from Dawson Felenchak and another from Pat Carpenter to grab a 6-5 edge at the half.

Owego managed just one second-period goal when Jo Race scored unassisted for his second goal of the night at 9:55.

The Raiders built themselves a four-goal lead early in the second half as Parker Winkly-Wade sandwiched a goal between two by Carpenter for a 9-5 lead.

The Indians would halt the run briefly when Tyler Phelps found the back of the net for an unassisted goal at 5:47.

Thomas O’Mara and Maurice Rankins scored nine seconds apart, and Carpenter put two in the goal to give Horseheads a 13-6 cushion heading into the final period.

Felenchak, Elston and Zach Adams scored for the Raiders in the fourth quarter before Phelps closed out the scoring, tallying 48.2 seconds remaining in the game to pick up a hat trick.

Zach Miner made eight saves for the Indians.

Despite the loss, coach Race felt there were some positives his squad could take away from the game.

“They definitely did not give up at any point in the game and we found out how to have a fast start, and we probably got as close to a complete game as we’ve played,” he said, “so we definitely have to take that and continue to do that as we move on in the season.”

Owego (3-4) hosts Johnson City at 7 p.m. Thursday.

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IN PHOTO: Owego’s Tyler Phelps. … PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.