Jim Bruneau makes the save against St. Bernard, April 7, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Jim Bruneau makes the save against St. Bernard, April 7, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
WestieBlue
Ray Mayberry plays defense for West Haven against Notre Dame, May 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Westies fall to ND
Lack of offense hurts in 11-3 loss
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(May 14, 2012) – The West Haven boys’ lacrosse team was looking to pull an upset Monday when the Westies played cross-town rival Notre Dame. That upset never materialized as the Green Knights took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in an 11-3 victory over the Westies.
West Haven had trouble slowing down Pat Geirin, who scored four times, and Will Palmieri and Dylan McGuinness who added two more goals apiece.
The Westies were still in the game at the half, trailing 4-1, but the Green Knights put the game away in the third quarter. Scoring five times in the quarter, Notre Dame took a 9-2 lead and West Haven never rebounded.
The Westies struggled to get going on offense and scored just one goal in each of the final three quarters. Dan Smith, Jamie Brown and Antonio Dunn picked up the West Haven goals.
Jim Bruneau made seven saves for the Westies. Notre Dame’s Paul Silwinski made one save and junior Casey Kelly made five in the victory.
Westies fall to Hamden
Brown scores both goals in loss
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(May 11, 2012) – The West Haven boys’ lacrosse team fell to 3-9 with a 17-2 loss at Hamden Friday evening. The Westies fell behind quickly and never caught up in the loss.
Jamie Brown scored both West Haven goals and Jim Bruneau made five saves in the loss. Bill Barrett made one save for the Westies.
Hamden struck quickly in the game, scoring seven times in the first quarter, for a 7-1 lead following Brown’s goal. Brown scored his second of the game in the second quarter but Hamden answered with five goals to take a 12-2 lead to the half.
The Green Dragons added three goals in the third quarter and two more in the fourth quarter. Teddy Kennedy made eight saves for Hamden.
Eli Bonadies led Hamden with four goals and three assists and Zach Jolles had three goals and four assists. Billy Fitzmaurice added three goals and three assists, while Matt Carroll had three goals and two assists.
Shelton pounds Westies
13 goals in first half propel Gaels
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(May 9, 2012) – The Shelton Gaels scored 13 times in the first half on their way to a 14-1 victory over West Haven Wednesday evening in Shelton. The Gaels led 8-0 after one quarter, 13-0 at the half and never looked back.
West Haven finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Jamie Brown scored the final goal of the game. Shelton controlled the game from start to finish and had a 24-8 shot advantage in the contest.
Matt Feigenblat led Shelton with three goals, while Anthony Branca, C.J. Mojcik and Nick Sinko each scored twice. Branca and Mojcik also had assists.
Jim Bruneau made 10 saves in the loss for West Haven, which fell to 3-8.
Westies defeat Cross
Brown scores four times in victory
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(May 7, 2012) – The West Haven boys’ lacrosse team picked up its third victory of the year Monday evening. The Westies rode the play of Jamie Brown, Dan Smith and Antonio Dunn to defeat Wilbur Cross 11-7 at Ken Strong Stadium.
West Haven took control of the contest in the second and third quarters, using a 9-1 run to break open a 1-1 tie. West Haven led 4-2 at the half and outscored Cross 6-0 in the third quarter to pull away.
Brown led the way with four goals, while Smith added three and Dunn had two goals and two assists. Sophomore Matt Kelly and junior Rody Cueva also scored for the Westies, with Cueva picking up an assist as well.
West Haven also received two assists from Dan Schapira, and one assist each from Geordann Daguplo, Jaeson Puleo and Justin Tuschhoff.
Jim Bruneau and Bill Barrett combined for seven saves, with Bruneau making five.
Branford thumps Westies
Hornets post 18-2 victory
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(April 25, 2012) – In the midst of a three-game stretch which could be the toughest part of the season, the West Haven boys’ lacrosse team was dominated by Branford Wednesday evening in West Haven. Scoring 14 times in the first half, including nine times in the second quarter, Branford rolled to a 14-1 victory.
The game was never in question as Branford led 5-0 after one quarter and 14-1 at the half. The Hornets scored twice in each of the final two quarters for the easy victory. With the loss, West Haven fell to 2-6.
Jim May led the way for Branford as he scored four times and added two assists. Jake Pantani scored twice and assisted on three other goals and Max Mangs finished with two goals and two assists. Justin Blood, John Alinson and Austin Hackett each scored twice for the Hornets.
Mike Last and Dan Schapira scored the West Haven goals. Jamie Brown assisted on both West Haven goals.
Westies fall to Indians
Loss drops record to 2-5
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(April 23, 2012) – West Haven boys’ lacrosse coach Patrick Reed was aware of how tough this week was going to be. Facing the likes of North Haven, Branford and Amity, West Haven would be put to the test.
Just a week after suffering a loss by 12 goals to the Indians, West Haven once again was defeated by the Indians, this time 15-5.
North Haven jumped out of the gates quickly when Chris Broadbent scored three times in less than two minutes for a 3-0 lead. Goals by Mike Halloran, Alec Uyeki and Colin Uyeki increased the lead to 6-0 before West Haven responded.
Jamie Brown scored the first of his four goals with 3 minutes, 56 seconds to go in the opening quarter to cut the deficit to 6-1. North Haven added two more goals to lead 8-1 after one.
“It was a break out game for Jamie Bown,” Reed said. “He scored four goals. Jaeson Puleo had the other.
“Jamie is a sophomore who moved here from Nebraska this year. He never played lacrosse until this year and only has seven lacrosse games under his belt. Ray Mayberry also had an awesome game at defense, scooping up eight balls.”
Quincy Pecora extended the lead to 9-2 in the second quarter but goals by Jaeson Puleo and Brown kept the Westies in the game. Brown added two more goals in the fourth quarter but they were not nearly enough in the loss.
Boys’ lacrosse headed in right direction
Plenty of positive signs early on
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
Through six games of the regular season, the West Haven boys' lacrosse team has won just twice. Despite the slow start, head coach Pat Reed is optimistic about the rest of the season.
"I told the kids we are going to win the games we are going to win," Reed said. "We are going to lose the game we are going to lose. There is a pretty clear divide with the talent level which is tough."
The Westies are coming off a 13-1 loss to North Haven with the only goal coming from Antonio Dunn off an assist from Jaeson Puleo. Reed knew North Haven kicked off a tough week for the Westies.
"It will probably be our toughest week of the year," Reed said. "We will take our lumps but we will get better."
A positive sign for the Westies came prior to North Haven when the Westies used a late goal by Puleo off an assist from Duane Gary to upset Stratford 5-4.
"We beat a pretty good Stratford team," Reed said. "I was very concerned going into the game. One of the problems I saw going in was Stratford is always scoring. We need to find a skilled player who can consistently put the ball in the net.
"We have been getting a lot better. We are a young team. We start two seniors and one junior. The rest are sophomores and freshmen. We are holding our own. We are getting a lot better every day. We have a lot of kids who were in supporing roles who are now thrown into the fire. They are holding their own against varsity kids."
Reed has been impressed with the play of many players. Puleo, Gary and Jim Bruneau have caught th eye of Reed and everyone on the field.
"Jaeson has been doing a great job," Reed said. "He scored three goals against Stratford. He wants the ball. He wants to get better in every aspect of the game. Duane has ben a pleasant surorise. He has unbelievable shiftiness. As a a coach, that is great to see. He is dominant to the right side and other teams know it but still can not stop him.
"Jim Bruneau has been outstanding in goal. Justin Tuschkoff is a freshman who is good with both hands.He has the most skill for a freshman that I have seen in a long time."
Reed is looking forward to the rest of the season. The head coach feels the team has a bright future for the rest of the season.
"We want the kids to continue working hard and get better," Reed said. "We have Notre Dame of Fairfoeld coming up. They are a good team. That will be our biggest challenge for the rest of the season."
In the Win Column
Westies post initial victory of season over Cross
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
(April 9, 2012) – After opening the season with a pair of losses, the West Haven boys’ lacrosse team finally got in the win column. While the team needed overtime to do so, West Haven defeated Wilbur Cross 10-9 Monday afternoon in New Haven.
The game was tight throughout as the Governors led 3-2 after one period and 5-4 at the half. West Haven continued to chase the Governors, trailing 7-6 after three periods before West Haven outscored Cross 3-2 to even the game at nine and force overtime where the Westies won.
Jaeson Puleo, Duane Gary and Benjamin Brown led the way with two goals apiece. Puleo also added two assists and Brown assisted on one for the Westies.
Antonio Dunn, Geordann Daguplo, Jesse Suraci and Justin Tuschoff also scored for the West Haven. Max Pelloth led Cross with four goals and an assist and Chris Wilner had three goals and two assists. Sophomore Jim Bruneau picked up the win with seven saves for West Haven.
Mike Last (13). Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Young Westies taking things step by step
New faces and veterans key to West Haven’s success
By MIKE MADERA
Westie Blue
The West Haven boys’ lacrosse team opens the 2012 season with plenty of room to grow. After graduating 16 seniors from a 5-11 team in 2011, coach Patrick Reed will have to incorporate plenty of new faces into the lineup.
While the goal is for the team to continually get better as the season progresses, Reed realizes there may be some bumps in the road. The goal is to avoid those early bumps at the start of the season.
“Last year was one of those weird years,” Reed said of all the graduated players. “We had a lot of kids who stuck around with the program and some who came in late.
“We really are a pretty strong defensive team. We want to get our offense to play well. I would love to see us duplicate the five wins this year. With all the losses from last year, we could struggle early. But, reaching those wins, I think is something we can easily do.”
If the Westies are going to have any success this year, it will start with returning senior players Antonio Dunn, Mike Ciarleglio and Mike Last. Dunn is a key player as he will play attack, Ciarleglio will anchor the midfield and Last controls the defense.
“They have been with us for four years,” Reed said. “They are the kind of people we will be looking to. They are key players for us.
“Mike Last has been a starter all four years. He has been consistent defensively. He is an unbelievably smart kid. He calms everything down on the field and that begins with the defense. Mike Ciarleglio is a gritty midfielder. I have not met anyone more tenacious than him. He hates to lose. Antonio has one of the quickest first steps in West Haven. In one or two steps, he puts people behind him and puts the ball in the net. He is exciting to watch.”
Reed has some other players who will make an impact as well. Sophomore Jaeson Puleo will play attack after an impressive freshman year where he came on at the end of the season.
Junior Mike Bibens, a transfer from Notre Dame, will start on defense and sophomore Jim Bruneau will play in goal. Sophomore Jamie Brown, who moved to West Haven from Nebraska, is a player Reed calls “very athletically gifted” and will play midfield.
“Jin Bruneau has looked consistently good,” Reed said. “He has been the biggest surprise of spring practices.
“We have a lot of young kids with great enthusiasm right now. To me, that is really exciting. We have so many new kids. Some have never played before. They are so in love with the sport, they fight for every ball. There is a learning curve. I think by the end of the season, we could be a very good team. We have to get through the beginning of the season without taking many lumps.”
West Haven opens the season Wednesday, April 4 against Hamden at 7 p.m.
Benjamin Brown (3) and Antonio Dunn (2) celebrate a goal by Jesse Suraci (left) in a 6-4 loss to St. Bernard, April 7, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
West Haven players celebrate a goal against Notre Dame, May 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Anthony Lanziero applies the pressure against St. Bernard, April 7, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Jamie Brown takes a shot against Notre Dame, May 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Jesse Suraci (6) celebrates his goal against St. Bernard with Benjamin Brown (3) in a 6-4 West Haven loss, April 7, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
THE HOME OF WEST HAVEN SPORTS
BOYS LACROSSE 2012
Jamie Brown splits the Notre Dame defense, May 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
Jamie Brown (3) celebrates a goal with Daniel Schapira (5) looking on against Notre Dame, May 14, 2012. Photo courtesy of Todd Dandelske.
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