The No. 3 Genesee Community College men's lacrosse team dismantled Monroe Community College 22-6 at Lazer Field in Syracuse April 28 to capture one of two National Junior College Athletic Association Region-III titles and advance for a chance at another national championship.
The game started without any weather issues, but four minutes into the third quarter the game was delayed 30 minutes so that lightning could pass. Unfortunately for Monroe, at the time of the delay lightning had already struck the scoreboard as Genesee's offense was more electric than any weather threat by having 15 goals at that point.
The Tribunes got the first goal of the contest, but after an illegal check put the Cougars in a man-up situation Genesee took the lead for good an never looked back.
Genesee scored 14 first-half unanswered goals to take a 13-goal lead into the intermission. Although the contest was tied at 1-1 midway through the first quarter, Genesee tacked on five more tallies to end the opening quarter including their final three that came in a 63-second span with the last goal by current NJCAA Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week Jordan Brennan as the official game winner. The Cougars' scoring was more evenly spread in the second quarter as they matched the seven they put up in the first.
As impressive as Genesee's offensive display was, perhaps the best player of the half - and possibly the game - was Cougar goalie Garrett Lazore. Without a doubt, he played his best 30 minutes of the season during the first half and was selected to the Region-III Championship All-Tournament Team. Lazore made eight saves in his three quarters of work leaving the game after Genesee had an 18-3 lead.
Evan Hollfelder tallied seven points from four goals and three assists to lead all Genesee players. Three Cougars registered five-point outings that included Kevin McParlene, Alex Mack, and Brennan.
Genesee had two players with four-goal performances that included Samuel Koczwara and Hollfelder; a pair of players with three goals each in Mack and Brennan; and two players with a pair of goals McParlene and Josh Bernas.
Four players scored single tallies that included Jason Chiodo, Patrick Bilbrey, Tyler Thompson and Andrew Forte, with the latter dominating the faceoff circle and joining teammates Lazore and Hollfelder on the all-tournament team.
Mark Campbell and Adam Witscheber were also selected to the all-tournament team from Monroe.
It was the seventh time in the last eight years the Cougars have either captured a regional title and/or advanced to the Final Four. The Cougars now need a play-in win when they host Ocean County College May 5 at 12 p.m. to advance to the Final Four in Syracuse May 12-13.
