Weisberg's Heroics Lift Mahopac In Thriller

By Zach Smart

 

As a senior go-to-guy on a Mahopac team spiked with a heavy dose of senior leadership, Ty Weisberg understands it is simply his role to deliver daggers in crunch time.

 So, when Mahopac head coach Mike Haddeland and assistant Ken Donnelly implored Weisberg to stop being tense and timid during a 4-4 fourth quarter deadlock with pesky Brewster, Weisberg didn’t flinch.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior carved his way to the cage on an up-and-under power move, blasting home a clutch 5-4 ball with 9:06 remaining.

With 8:07 remaining, Weisberg got free to turn Glenn Janik’s dish into a 20-yard insurance rip.

Brewster’s Joey Guida closed the gap to 6-5 on a foray to the cage. With the physicality ratcheted up a notch during the waning moments, Mahopac held off a last-gasp shot at the buzzer on Brendan Crecco’s game sealing save.

Though they won’t be popping any championship bottles tonight, the Indians’ pulsating 6-5 win snaps a discouraging two game slide.

Behind a 4-0 spurt fueled by ball control, the Mahopac stormed back from a 4-2 deficit.

“I was extremely pumped, because this was a much-win situation,” said Weisberg, an All-Section middie headed to Muhlenberg College in rural Pa.

“Nobody was guarding me (on the insurance goal). Glenn found me and I put everything I had into it, put it low and thankfully it went in. I knew that one of us needed to step up.”

A strong finish by Brewster’s Nick Dingee, followed by a deep rip from sniper Liam DaRos put the Indians in a 4-2 rut at halftime. That’s when Haddeland told asked his team to translate their frustration into the fervor they know how to play with.

“I called (Weisberg) out at halftime and asked him to step up for us,” Haddeland said.

“He was kind of like, ‘oh I can go to the goal?’ I’m like yeah, of course you can go to the goal. You’re a senior leader, we want you to go to the goal. When he gets top side on kids, he’s hard to stop. We want him to dodge hard, to get top side and just stick it.”


Weisberg did just that. On a windy afternoon when Mahopac struggled mightily to score, Weisberg seized the clutch characteristics that's demanded of the Indians seniors.

After falling behind by a 4-2 count, the Indians switched into a zone. Reaping few results from the transition, Mahopac switched back to their traditional man-to-man defense.

In the second half, Mahopac applied the clamps. The Indians tighened up, as the shooting space that allowed Brewster to get open looks disappeared. Whizzing the ball methodically in the half-field set, Mahopac dominated possession.

“We didn’t have the ball at all the second half,” explained Brewster head coach Mike Honey.

 “Mahopac played a little zone in the first half, so we tried to attack it before they could set up in the zone. I think it actually bit us, because we got good shots but we never got a second shot on any possession.”

Brewster was without its featured scorer in Liam Erickson.

 Erickson, who lit up Lakleland/Panas for five goals, underwent knee surgery on Tuesday. With Erickson going under the knife, Brewster got production from dodger Joey Guida. Bears keeper Ed Schoenig did a commendable job between the pipes, collecting 13 saves. Mahopac's frustration compounded in the second half, as shots sailed off the mark and they forced the issue.

The Indians recovered when junior Eric Giorno bagged his first goal of the season on a cut and pop, slicing Brewster’s lead to 4-3. The goal kick-started the Indians' game-altering 4-0 surge.

Eric Donahue drilled a straight-away shot with 3:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, knotting it at 4-4 and setting the table for a dramatic fourth quarter.

 Brewster entered the contest looking to snap a five-year losing streak against Mahopac. An unwavering “one game at a time” adherent, Honey said the Bears' recent struggles had nothing to do with Brewster’s torrid start.

“What we really wanted to get today was effort,” said Honey. “We played Carmel the other day, we didn’t play that well. I think that was our main goal. Can we compete against the Mahopacs, the Lakelands? We can. We graduated a lot last year, but we’re having a pretty good year against good talent."

Crecco (eight saves) had arguably his best performance of the season. The keeper stifled several fast breaks and staved off late attacks. Brewster pushed the ball at a frantic pace to push overtime, but Mahopac's riding game and augmented physicality kept the net intact.

Weisberg led Mahopac with two goals. Long stick middie Brendan Hynes scooped up three groundballs. DaRos paced Brewster with two goals and an assist.

Weisberg credited senior standout Hynes for the harassing defense, which helped dictate the Indians second half scoring spree.

“Hynes has unbelievable skill, he can take the ball from anyone,” said Weisberg. He always gets the job done, and works hard.”

The same can be said for Mahopac’s core of senior leaders.