Records Fall as Lakers Hold Off Generals 10-8

By Alex Pagliano

HERKIMER, N.Y. – The Finger Lakes Community College men's lacrosse team defeated Herkimer County Community College 10-8 on Friday. The win gives the program a record sixth consecutive victory, and moves the team to 8-6 on the season.

Jack Timerson (Newark, N.Y.) made history of his own on the afternoon, as well. The sophomore led all scorers with five goals and an assist. The five goals give Timerson a nation's-best 61 goals on the season, and move him into sole possession of the Lakers record for most goals scored in an individual season. The six points also total 82 on the season, a mark that breaks the Lakers record for most individual points in a season set back in 2010.

Uncommon to their current win streak, the Lakers opened the game trailing the Generals. Berek Martichuski scored the game's opening goal at the 11:50 mark, and assisted on the second goal, as Jace Sowden would give the Generals a 2-0 lead with 4:50 remaining in the first quarter. After a faceoff win by Brandon Grace (Penn Yan, N.Y.), Parker Weeks (Canandaigua, N.Y.) gave the Lakers their first goal of the game at the 4:21 mark to only cut the deficit to one. Weeks also recorded three assists on the day.

Herkimer County Community College would continue to challenge the Lakers, scoring the second quarter's opening two goals. Ryan Revette and Nick Suits would give the Generals a 4-1 lead, but after a Finger Lakes Community College timeout, seemingly all momentum had been reversed. Timerson would score just 34 seconds later, and exactly a minute later, Albert Thompson (Medina, N.Y.) would record his seventeenth goal of the season to place the Lakers back within one. From there, the Lakers would end the half with an additional two goals from Timerson. Heading into halftime, Finger Lakes Community College would hold a 5-4 lead.

The streak of unanswered goals would push to five, as Robert Pelkey (Fairport, N.Y.) tallied his first goal of the game to increase the Lakers lead to two goals at 14:02. The Generals would tie the game on consecutive goals from Martichuski, but would then fall victim to another Finger Lakes Community College string of goals. The Lakers would add the game's next three goals, as Timerson would score two in a row and Daniel Johnson (Newark, N.Y.) would cap off the scoring run at 1:12. Kamm David would end the third frame with a goal with just 23 seconds remaining, cutting the Lakers lead to 9-7 entering the final frame.

David would score his second goal of the game to open the fourth quarter scoring, bringing the Generals to within just one goal. At 4:19, Pelkey scored his second goal of the game on his eleventh shot attempt to provide the Lakers with an all-needed insurance goal.

The Generals refused to concede. Within the final 2:35 of the contest, the Generals received two man-up opportunities, but failed to capitalize on either attempt. Herkimer County Community College was 0-for-4 with the man advantage on the day. While preserving the 10-8 victory, the Lakers have allowed just four conversions in their past 54 attempts with the man down.

Faceoffs continued to be a point of emphasis for Finger Lakes Community College. Brandon Grace won 17-of-21 attempts, and becomes the first NJCAA player to record 150 or more faceoff victories this season (160).

Sophomore John Perrucci (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) earned his eighth victory, recording nine saves on 17 shot attempts. The goaltender continues to impress, compiling both the most wins (8) and the most saves (198) in the NJCAA on the season.

Jonathan Cooper made 20 saves in defeat for the (4-6) Generals.

Finger Lakes Community College will return to action on Saturday, as they travel to Binghamton, N.Y. to square off with conference opponent Broome Community College. The opening faceoff is slated for 3p.m.