SECTION IV BOYS LACROSSE: OWEGO BATTLES PAST DRYDEN IN SEASON OPENER; PRENTISS SCORES 4 (2023-03-23)
By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Caleb Cole scored on a feed from Noah Heath with three seconds remaining to lift Owego over Dryden, 8-7, in Section IV boys lacrosse action Thursday evening.
It was Heath’s second assist of the contest and Cole’s only shot of the night.
“We’ve got a very young team, inexperienced, but very hardworking,” said first-year head coach TJ Serkiz. “We've come pretty far. We’ve got a long way to go. We're just excited for the win.”
The game-winner came after the Purple Lions rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game with 11.7 seconds to play. Brayden Wood, one of two freshmen on the roster, scored the goal. Brendan Williams got the assist.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Serkiz said. “I was pretty excited, very proud of them. They fought hard.”
Dryden trailed, 6-2, at halftime and 7-4 as the clock dropped below five minutes remaining in regulation. The Lions then found the back of the net at 4:28 and 2:52 to make it a one-goal game. Finnegan O’Brien and Luke Eshelman scored the goals, and assists went to Wood and Williams.
“That's a good lacrosse team,” Serki. “We're very young. We’ve got to understand the game; first game jitters. We’ve got to understand scenarios and control the ball. We made a lot of errors with the ball.”
The Lions grabbed the early lead on a rainy and windy night, scoring on a Williams shot at 9:56 of the first quarter, but the Indians knotted the score on a Jace Riegel goal at 8:12.
Sixty-six seconds later, Hudson Benedict gave Owego a 2-1 edge with Heath picking up the assist.
Dryden would knot the score with 46 seconds left in the period with Aidan Davis getting the goal.
Owego dominated the second quarter, building a 6-2 halftime advantage with Sawyer Prentiss racking up a hat trick.
Steve Bidwell made it 3-2 with an unassisted goal at 8:26, then assisted on the initial Prentiss tally at 6:25.
Prentiss scored unassisted at 1:21 then made it three in a row on a feed from Noah Fowler with 47.1 seconds left before the break.
The Lions cut the lead to 6-4 in the third period with goals at 6:27 and 5:08. Luke Eshelman scored both with Zak Eshelman adding the assists.
Prentiss recorded his fourth goal of the game at 7:25 of the final frame, giving the Indians a 7-4 lead.
“He's a talented young man,” Serkiz said. “He's new to the varsity. I'm looking forward to working with him for many years.”
Heath and Riegel collected five ground balls apiece. Cameron Card and Brendan Schofield contributed four each, and Aidan Rhodes added three.
Rhodes made 14 saves in goal and Fowler won seven of 13 faceoffs.
Luke Eshelman had four goals for Dryden.
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego’s Sawyer Prentiss. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
...click here for video or photo gallery
