TAYLOR MADE: 10-MAN RIDE ENCORE GETS NO LOVE FROM COVID-19 (2020-04-06)

In my previous editorial, I wrote about Tioga County senior athletes who will most likely miss out on the opportunity to shine in their final track & field seasons. In this installment, I will look at some of the seniors in the local lacrosse programs.

Lacrosse is the one sport I don't have a lot of experience with. Despite being in the business as long as I have, most of the schools I've covered were too small enrollment-wise to offer lacrosse.

I covered my first high school sporting event in November 1982, but didn't get to take in a lacrosse contest until April 2016. The team I cut my lax teeth on was a young program that won one game in two seasons — and the majority of its games fell under the continuous clock mercy rule.

In 2018, I covered two Penn Yan state playoff games before coming back home to Tioga County.

Last year, I had the pleasure of covering girls lacrosse for the first time with an exciting Owego team on my agenda.

I was also fortunate enough to cover the Indian boys' first-ever state playoff season — and was truly looking froward to what I believe would have been a terrific follow-up.

As I've written previously, I believe the spring high school sports season will get canceled — and the recent "New York on Pause" extension to April 29 makes it almost impossible to put together a season.

With that said, let's check out some of the senior lacrosse players we're probably going to miss out on.

BOYS LACROSSE
Last year, the Indians qualified for the first state tournament for the first time in their 21-year history, winning five of its last six games to earn the top seed in the Section IV Class C tournament.

Owego would defeat nemesis Johnson City, 15-12, to advance to states. The Indians would draw five-time Class B champion Jamesville-DeWitt in the quarterfinals and bow out, 17-3. J-D would go on to capture runner-up honors.

Tyler Phelps scored the Indians' final goal in that game and Connor Kinney assisted on the second. The duo would take their skills to the NCAA Division II level this year, graduating with five other seniors. Kinney would chalk up 38 goals and 56 assists in his final campaign with Phelps logging 28 goals and 14 assists.

A look at last year's roster signaled good news for Owego heading into this season — the potential for 17 returnees to include 13 seniors.

Should the spring season get underway, by some small miracle, seniors expected to contribute to this year's team include last season's No. 2 and 3 scorers, Luke Maslin (33 goals, 30 assists) and Cole Taylor (31 goals, 12 assists). Also back are Ben Miller (23 goals), and Cooper Phelps and face-off specialist Jo Race (14 goals apiece).

Maslin had one of the Indians' state tourney goals (Justin Brown scored the first state playoff goal in school history as a sophomore).

Other seniors coming back to bolster Owego's claim of being the section's Class C favorite include defenders Gio Fabi, Mike Wasyln and Mason Pratt. Midfielder Cam Doane, who sat out last season following shoulder surgery, was hoping to make an impact as well.

With the small number of schools playing lacrosse in Section IV, Owego faces several teams from the Class A and B ranks during the regular season. With a 10-7 record, the Indians were among eight of the section's top 11 teams to rack up 10 or more victories in 2019.

GIRLS LACROSSE
Graduation losses were going to be costly for the Indians this season — they bid farewell to seven of their 17 players from last year's 4-11 team.

Key losses included Zoe Mahon, a Section IV Class C/D first-team all-star, and Lauren Angelone and Macey Harrell, Section IV Class C/D second-team all-stars.

Leah Watson, an Academic All-American, headlines a small group of seniors who were looking to head up this year's team. Also back for what was supposed to be their final season are Maddy Powell, Allee Schumacher and Emma French.