By: Brayden Peters
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Brockport Blue Devils' boys lacrosse team opened up their season with an 8-6 loss to the Bloomfield/Honeoye Pride. Brockport had a 4-2 lead entering the second half, but they went cold on offense and struggled on defense.
Brockport went into this season with many new players, even players new to the sport. Head Coach Jeffrey Jung respects the work that they have put in the preseason. "I think we got a lot of new guys out here working their tails off every single day," Jung said. "We got guys who had never picked up a stick before until this year, and they're coming in every day, working hard."
The first quarter was relatively quiet. Both teams struggled to get any shots off without turning the ball over. Also, there were inconsistencies from both teams when it came to completing passes.
The Blue Devils were able to strike first with Thomas Bruno being awarded the goal. However, the Pride responded, thanks to Jonathan Nelson scoring on a man-up for the Pride.
Brockport found some life on offense in the second quarter. They scored three consecutive goals to give them a 4-1 lead. Two of the goals were scored by Ryan Miller.
Late in the quarter, the Pride scored once again. Liam Roach buried a shot down low to cut Brockport's lead to two.
The Pride brought an offensive explosion to the third quarter. They scored two unanswered goals to tie things up again. Brockport managed to break the tie. Defenseman Gianni Passalacqua buried a shot taken from the restraining line off of transition.
This goal didn't stop the Pride's offense from producing. They scored two more goals from Nelson and Cody Whittaker.
Brockport's offensive production from the second quarter dropped due to missed scoring chances. Not only that but their defense started to allow the Pride to get backdoor. Penalties started to rack up for the Blue Devils.
"Just the lack of watching the cuts in the backside, and the penalties...really screwed us over," Miller said.
Brockport did sneak in a goal to tie the game up 6-6 before the quarter ended. Tyler Davis was credited with scoring for the Blue Devils.
Things went quiet for Brockport in the fourth quarter. They were held scoreless while the Pride's offense continued to find the back of the net.
John Blair broke the tie for the Pride. Then, Nelson completed his hat trick to put the nail in the coffin, giving the Pride the 8-6 victory.
Brockport had their fair share of positives and negatives throughout the game. Passalacqua felt that these issues came down to practice habits.
"It's just guys not knowing what to do," Passalacqua said. "Lack of showing up at practice and the lack of being attentive in practice. I think we just need to bounce back and we need to really lock in in practice because that cannot happen again."
There are clear issues that need to be cleaned up for Brockport. Jung, though, believes that one of the biggest positives is that there is a sense of togetherness in the team.
"We had a run and our bench was getting fried up," Jung said. "It's got to be a camaraderie. We got to be together all freaking game long."
Even though Brockport lost, their eighth-grade goalie JP Newton had a good day for himself between the pipes. He recorded 13 saves to give himself a 61.9 save percentage for the night.
Brockport will get ready to host Eastridge/RCSD United next on Apr. 11. Faceoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.