FRESH CAN

TIGERS PHYSICAL PLAY DOOMS RED DEVILS
NELLIGAN & KANE NET THREE APIECE
CLARENCE FAILS MIDTERM EXAM

(SOUTH BUFFALO) The Clarence varsity lacrosse team paid a visit to Tift Farms on Tuesday to take on the host Timon-St. Jude Tigers. What they would get amounted to a good, old-fashioned butt kicking, as the Tigers dominated the Red Devils in every aspect of the game. The final 12-2 score reflected the marked difference between the two programs at this point of the 2008 season. The physical South Buffalo style of play intimidated many of the Clarence players, as several battles were lost on groundball situations in the midfield. The Red Devils had difficulty generating much offense, managing just 10 shots on the Tigers throughout the contest. Senior attackman Nick Nelligan and midfielder Chris Kane each scored three goals to lead Timon.

The first quarter was pretty rough for the Red Devils as the Tigers ripped off five unanswered goals. The in-your-face defensive style of Timon made life very difficult for the Clarence attack. As the quarter progressed, the bruising style began to take its toll on the visitors. The Tigers got things rolling just over two minutes in as midfielder Tim Rosati pressured through the Clarence defense on a quick dodge. The hard low shot beat goalie Ryan Duff to make it 1-0 Timon.

The Tigers scored again at the 5:28 mark on a real nice dodge from behind the cage by Nick Nelligan. One of the top players in WNY, Nelligan showed that he has both speed and power, leaving the Clarence defender and firing a shot past Duff to make it 2-0. The tally would be the beginning of a four goal Timon outburst to end the first quarter.

Just over a minute later midfielder Chris Kane got into the act. Kane used his quickness to blow past the Red Devil defensive middie, then fired a beautiful bounce shot into the back of the net making it 3-0. The shot came off Duff's right slot area from about 15 yards out.

A minute after the third goal, came yet another. Nelligan once again victimized his defender, dodging from behind the net. Nelligan quickly rolled back and fired a shot past the goalie to pull away 4-0.

The Tigers executed a nice play shortly before time expired in the first. The Red Devils had difficulty matching up against Timon's speedy attack. Moving the ball quickly around the perimeter, midfielder Brendan Murphy set it up from behind. Drawing a slide from the Red Devil defense, Murphy quickly dumped it off to attackman Gage Carrig who fired into the back of the net with 11 seconds left. The first quarter would end that way, 5-0 in favor of the host Tigers.

Unfortunately, the Red Devils couldn't seem to get much going in the second quarter either. Clarence's inability to possess the ball for any length of time limited the scoring opportunities. To make matters worse, the visitors failed to generate any offense at all during a three minute non-release penalty and a two man up situation early in the second. However, Tayler Swanson would get the Red Devils on the board late in the second as he powered his way through the tough Timon defense. Dan Barron picked up the assist, feeding a perfect pass onto Swanson's stick. Tayler quick sticked it past goalie Dave Scarello and the score stood at 5-1 Timon.

The Red Devils had difficulty stopping the Timon offense late in the quarter as the Tigers scored two goals shortly before halftime. Midfielder Pat Isch picked up a goal from the righ slot. Their seemed to be confusion in the Clarence defense. Isch was all alone. Duff had little chance. The score stretched to 6-1.

Just under a minute later, Chris Kane followed up with his second of the day. Quickly beating the Clarence defender, Kane dodged through the left slot and ripped a well-placed shot past Duff to the back bottom corner. The goal made it 7-1 at the half.

A couple of things were apparent at halftime. Clarence could not compete against Timon with the effort (or lack there of) that they showed in the first 24 minutes. They would have to find a way to fight back, take a body and compete more aggressively for groundballs. However, the second half would be much of the same for the Red Devils.

Clarence did seem to adjust slightly in the third quarter, fighting a little harder on groundballs. However, Timon seemed to control throughout. The scoring for the Tigers continued with just over five minutes left in the period. Once again it was Nick Nelligan. The play was created by freshman Dpole Brian Sullivan. Remember that name, as he will be a force to deal with in the coming years. Sullivan's athletic ability and grit were a big reason Timon dominated the midfield area. Sullivan legged out the clear and found Nelligan alone against an unsettled defense. Nelligan turned and ripped the shot past Duff to complete the hat trick. 8-1 Tigers.

Three minutes later, Dan Barron would generate his own offense. With the ball at X, Barron dodged his way to the front of the crease, spun and then rolled inside to fire it past Scarello for the second Red Devil goal. The Timon lead now stood at 8-2.

The Tigers capped off the third with yet another goal. This one came with just 42 seconds left. Again, Clarence lost a midfield battle to Sullivan. Sullivan legged it through the zone and found T.J. Walsh alone in the right slot. Duff made one of his attempts to break up the play but was too late as Walsh popped it into the unguarded net to make it 9-2 after three.

Timon would finish off the weary Red Devils with three fourth quarter goals. Gage Carrig picked up his second goal of the game on a beautiful play by Nick Nelligan. The goal came just over three minutes in. Nelligan dodged hard to the net, drawing the defense. Carrig stood all alone when the pass came. A quick stick later and the score was 10-2.

Several minutes later T.J. Walsh picked up his second goal. This one required a little more work as Walsh exploited the short stick defender from behind the Clarence goal. A quick, powerful dodge to the front and Walsh beat Duff to bring it to 11-2.

Kane finished up the scoring with 1:38 remaining. A worn-down Red Devil defense struggled to keep up with Kane as he simply dodged to the front of the net and inside rolled back to fire it past Duff for his third of the afternoon. Final score: Timon 12 Clarence 2.

Post game assessment obviously not good. The purpose for playing such a strong team was to evaluate weaknesses as we head into the second half of the season. If Clarence hopes to take the program further, they must compete better against difficult teams. In reality, Timon's roster is littered with freshman and sophomores. Games like this, no matter how difficult to swallow make you better for it in the long run. If we hope to someday compete with WNY's elite and expect our players to go on and play college ball, then we must constantly test ourselves against teams like Timon. They gave the Red Devils a huge dose of reality. How Clarence responds to that will determine whether or not they truly understand what it takes to be a champion. The Red Devils go into friday's game against Frontier a little short handed. Hopefully, we will see someone step it up and prove that this lessson was not lost. If any player has read this far in the post, that's a start!