High School Lacrosse
POSTSEASON
May 23, 2007
NOTES: Oldham County rises to top of Division 2
By
NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
Oldham County didn't look like a contender for the Kentucky Lacrosse Association High School Boys' Division 2 title early in the season, losing to both Covington Catholic and Eastern.
But Oldham County is the Division 2 champion after all.
The Silverhawks crushed CovCath 12-6 in the semifinals last Monday and then walloped Eastern 14-6 in the final at Trinity's Marshall Stadium on Friday.
"The kids were just on in the CovCath game," Oldham County assistant coach Stu Bailey said. "I didn't think they could play any better, but they did against Eastern. They lost to Tates Creek in the final last year, and I don't think they wanted to lose again."
Oldham County (8-2 Division 2) lost three straight games during the regular season, falling 10-4 to Division 1 Tates Creek on March 18, 8-3 to CovCath on March 31, and 11-8 to Eastern on April 5. The team then won nine in a row against Division 1 and Division 2 foes.
"At the beginning of the season, we were jumbling the lineup," Bailey said. "Guys were missing practice, and we clamped down on it. They recommitted and refocused."
Senior Mike Murphy had three goals and four assists against Eastern (9-1 Division 2) and was named the Most Valuable Player. Senior Nathan Gonda and junior Ben Murphy, Mike's brother, also each scored three goals. Senior Mike Whirt had two goals and three assists, senior Michael Varcoe had two goals and two assists, and senior Blake Webber had a goal and two assists.
Senior goalie Wade Stratton made 17 saves. Junior Chris Martorano was assigned to defend Eastern's All-State senior attack Brent McCarty, who had scored 15 goals in his last two games against the Silverhawks. Martorano limited him to one.
"It was truly a team effort," Oldham County head coach Jim Murphy said.
That team likely will split into two - North Oldham and South Oldham - next season, both coaches said. That would create an interesting rivalry.
MVP Donahue went to pains for Trinity
Trinity coach Pete Schroeder didn't know that his senior goalie, Greg Donahue, took a shot that bruised his collarbone in the second half of the team's 9-7 win over St. Xavier in the Division 1 final last Friday.
"I would have put (Collin) Reichert in there," Schroeder said.
But Donahue stayed in the game, just as he did after a teammate's stick hit his thumb and caused bleeding under his fingernail in the first half. He made 12 saves and was named the Most Valuable Player - which came much to his surprise.
"To be quite honest, I didn't think I played that good," Donahue said. "It just wasn't one of my better games. There were a couple goals that I thought I should have stopped."
But one of the shots - the one that hit his shoulder - deflected off a teammate for an own goal, and several other goals were scored when the Shamrocks were short-handed.
"We played a lot of man down, and that puts more pressure on the goalie," Schroeder said. "He had a really nice game."
Donahue did grant that the award - and the title, which was Trinity's fourth in as many years - was a satisfying finish to his one and only season as the team's starting goalie.
"Blake Herner started for four years, and he left big shoes to fill," Donahue said. "I guess I filled them."
Four KLA players voted All-Americans
Two boys, both from three-year-old programs that reached the Division 1 semifinals last week, were announced as All-Americans on Friday.
Collegiate senior midfielder Will Cary and Tates Creek senior defenseman Ben Schaefer were selected in a vote of KLA coaches. Cary had 22 goals and 20 assists for the Titans, who lost to eventual champion Trinity 16-9 in the semifinals. Schaefer had two goals and six assists for Tates Creek, which finished third in the standings in its first season in Division 1 and lost to St. Xavier 12-9 in the semifinals.
Another Collegiate player - senior Annie Decker - and Manual senior Samantha Canary were voted All-Americans among the girls. Decker had 21 goals and five assists while leading the Amazons to the Division 1 title last Thursday. Canary had 30 goals and five assists for the Crimsons, whose run of three straight Division 1 titles ended with a 10-9 overtime loss to Collegiate in the semifinals.
Oldham senior Katie Dillon and Collegiate senior Devon Byrne were voted honorable mentions.
Academic All-Americans include Trinity senior Ed Wunderlin; senior Aruna Keswani, senior Amanda Laferty, junior Anna Miller, junior Sarah Phelps, and senior Leah Vanderwerp of Ballard; junior Ellen Bruenderman, junior Caroline Goldstein, senior Allison Grant, senior Katie Seiler, and senior Emily Vieth of Collegiate; senior Anne Kash Dobbins, junior Gray Robinson, senior Elizabeth Thome, and junior Grace Wessel of Kentucky Country Day; senior Kelda Beachy of Male's Ladydawgs; Canary, senior Laura Leavell, senior Annie Makela, junior Samantha Segers, and junior Kaitlin Shumate of Manual; seniors Meredith LaMaster and Tori O'Grady of Oldham; and senior Maggie Moore, junior Maggie Schmidt, and junior Laura Wetterer of Sacred Heart.
St. X leads All-State selections
St. X placed a league-high six players on the All-State Team.
They include senior midfielder Winston Arnold, senior midfielder Charlie Helm, senior attack Travis Marcum, junior defenseman Taylor Smith, sophomore goalie Aaron Benz, and sophomore midfielder Chase Carraro.
Trinity has four players: senior goalie Mike Donahue, senior attack Mike Duffy, senior defenseman Andrew Purdie, and senior defenseman Tim Williamson.
Tates Creek has three players: Schaefer, senior attack Tanner Bond, and senior face-off man Adam Weldy.
Lexington Catholic also has three players: senior midfielder Breandan Draper, senior midfielder Adam Woomer, and sophomore long-stick midfielder Lane Pumphrey.
Collegiate has two players, Cary and senior attack Mike Imburgia.
Ballard also has two players, junior midfielder David Spielberg and junior goalie Jeremy Stein.
Manual has one player, junior attack Brian Gordon, and Paul Dunbar had one player, senior midfielder Drew Herbert.
Oldham County, Eastern, CovCath and Christian Academy each have four players on the Division 2 All-State Team.
Oldham County’s players include senior defenseman John Eberhardt, senior attack Mike Murphy, senior midfielder Blake Webber, and junior midfielder Ben Murphy.
Eastern’s players include McCarty, senior defenseman Shane Davies, senior face-off man Grant Wilson, and junior long-stick midfielder Andrew Nielson.
CovCath’s players include senior midfielder Sam Cahill, senior attack Chris Crush, senior goalie Sean O’Conner, and senior defenseman Chris Verst.
Christian Academy’s players include: junior goalie John Dissinger, sophomore defenseman Brent Jordan, sophomore attack Zack Pruet, and sophomore defenseman Aaron Rayhome.
Henry Clay has two players, junior midfielder Robert Clawson and sophomore attack Owen Duross.
Lafayette has one player, freshman midfielder Chris Kelly.
A personal note
This reporter, voted US Lacrosse Man of the Year in Kentucky last week, would like to thank the KLA coaches involved in the selection process and all of the other readers who have taken an interest in this Web site.
Expect bigger and better coverage of lacrosse next season.
(This notebook will be updated with additional notes.)