Hot Shooting Huskers Top Ridgefield

 By Zach Smart

The long white Charter bus chugged into the parking lot of sun-sprayed Yorktown High early in the afternoon.

In a matter of moments, a cadre of dieseled-up Ridgefield players sporting highlighter-orange jerseys and a 9-0 record surfaced.

 Fast forward to the end of the night.

With 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter—after Yorktown’s blend of precise passing, sniping, polished riding game and supremacy on the X fended off the well-balanced CT power—The Crop was eagerly calling for Ridgefield to warm up that bus.

Hungry to solidify its status as the Tri-State lacrosse landscape’s hunted ones, the Ridgefield Transit finally ran out of gas.

Yorktown pulled away, registering a dramatic 11-8 victory before a packed bi-partisan crowd under the lights.

The 11-1 Huskers clawed back from a 6-3 deficit following Ridgefield southpaw Dylan Maher’s snipe from mid-yardage with 5:54 left in the second quarter.

Yorktown answered with a 4-0 surge.

 The Huskers thrived with its dodge-and-kick game in the third quarter. Opening up seams for its slew of shooters, Yorktown never stopped dodging, setting picks, and whipping interior passes.

Connor Vercruysse and Brian Prestreau connected on back-to-back rips from the left angle, supplying the Huskers with a 9-7 edge with 6:39 remaining in the third quarter.

Ridgefield’s Brett Baker got loose for a loud putback, cutting it to 9-8 with 11:24 remaining in the fourth.

 Yorktown’s late-game poise, however, shut the lid on its deep out-of-state foe.

Mariano (who doled out a game-high six assists) whizzed a high lob pass to a cutting Vercruysse, who drilled a turnaround shot as Yorktown seized a 10-8 lead with 10:36 to go. With 7:14 left, Nick Bonitatibus converted Mariano’s backside dish into a mid-range dart that sealed a marquee and memorable win.

“This group’s been pretty good about regrouping, especially at halftime,” said Huskers coach Dave Marr, who cited Yorktown’s commitment to sliding and ball denial as the sparks that started the second half blaze.  

“First quarter was a little scattered, we were a little flat footed. They moved the ball well. I think once we settled down, and (goalie) Austin (Graham) made a couple of nice saves and clears and we started to slide, we were able to play our defense the proper way.”

The Huskers, without a significant cog in Villanova-bound Luke Palmadesso (head injury), were propelled by Danny Manning’s bullish performance on face-offs. Manning's hustle orchestrated an offensive flow underscored by timely shots from Prestreau (game-high four goals, one assist) and Vercruysse (three goals, two assists).

Ridgefield, coached by Roy Colsey (the former Yorktown High stud who bagged two national championships as a player at Syracuse, prolonging his career with the Philadelphia Barrage of Major League Lacrosse) enforced double teams and ultra-physical coverage of Mariano.

The kid known in Yorktown circles as "Nicky Lax" might have felt a bit black-and-blue this morning.

Ridgefield (9-1) focused immensely on denying Mariano the rock and draping his wrists. Rather than hunting for his shot, the UMass-bound senior facilitated a spread offense in the half-field set.

“Obviously, Nicky Lax had a rough start and he had a couple turnovers. But he got over it and really pulled it together for us,” Marr said. "I was proud of the way he responded."

Mariano piped home the tiebreaker and knocked in the go-ahead goal from distance, supplying Yorktown with a 7-6 lead and a momentum head rush into halftime. Manning buried a straightaway shot with 5:08 to play in the second period, thwarting Ridgefield’s 3-0 surge while simultaneously spurring the Huskers' 4-0 streak. Against a team of Ridgefield's caliber, with man-child defensemen protecting the crease, Yorktown relied on its shooting.

“We work hard in practice doing all kinds of different shooting drills and everyone gets into it,” said Prestreau, who’s headed to Stony Brook.

"We're always confident with who has the ball, because we know we've got guys who can really shoot it."

It was both teams, however, that entered the Wild, Wild, West shootout with nothing smaller than a Chopper.

Yorktown outshot Ridgefield by a thin 27-25 margin. The Huskers won the battle for the groundballs, 22-20.

Following Saturday’s win over Chaminade, which had been ranked no.2 in the country, Yorktown made a concentrated effort not to get tangled up in the opponent’s state/national ranking, high expectations, hype, or hyperbole.

“We always focus on the task at hand and play our game,” Vercruysse said.

“We always talk about focusing on the next game and the next game only. We realize we just have to really play hard and play the way we’re capable of playing, and that’s what we did. We weren't concerned about who they were.”

In Marr, his player’s words echoed.

“We try to concentrate on ourselves and who we’re playing and moving our feet and playing hard. We’re not really worried about who we're playing against."

And so the Huskers played their game without investing thought in the opponent’s name.

Oddly enough, Mariano ended up eclipsing Colsey on Yorktown's all-time points list. Mariano has now piled up 225 points on 150 goals and 75 assists to place 10^th on the list.

Palmadesso, who sustained a head injury during a late post-goal hit against Chaminade, is day-to-day.

“Luke didn’t play today, Danny Manning had to step up and take most of the face offs,"  Marr said. "I think he took every one except for that one at the half. That was big.”

So was the win, which gave Yorktown another signature victory and Ridgefield its lone loss of the season.