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By TIM IRVING
Victor’s boys lacrosse team spent last week prepping hard for 4-0 McQuaid and with rival Pittsford coming up on Thursday, the Blue Devils had to guard against an upset.
“The most harmful thing about looking over a team is if you come in unprepared and you just don’t want to do it, every game is a big one.”
Victor junior Thomas Gravino had two goals and an assist as the Blue Devils took the Knights very seriously in a 13-3 victory.
Freshman Kyle Saeger got Victor off to a fast start, setting up Pax Marshall for a goal just 47 seconds in.
Saeger then set up Sam Gotham for the laser with just under six minutes to play in the first for a 2-0 lead.
That’s when the Blue Devil tradition presented itself.
Since TD Ierlan put the face-off position on the map, earning All-American honors for Victor, he has spent the off-season passing on his technique to a line of face-off guys (FOGs), leading up to the current specialist, Sam Ricci.
“He’s a warrior. You watch him on the football field, he’s working hard, the wrestling mat, he’s a three-sport monster,” coach Dan Stone says of Ricci.
Ricci won the ensuing face off and took himself for a 3-0 lead, the Cornell commit won 16 of 20 (80%) at the “X” all night.
Victor kept the pressure on as Gravino, who has committed to Maryland, picked up a loose ball in his own end and fed Bobby Schaeffer for a 4-0 lead. After another Ricci face off win, Jack Herendeen hit Gravino out top for a 5-0 advantage.
The Knights got on the board as Henry Coke scored in transition before Saeger got one for himself and the lead was 6-1 at halftime.
“During the off-season, we get all the guys together and if the younger guys wanna run with the older guys, that’s part of the foundation, gives them a taste of what that competition is like, “ Stone says of his team that features 22 juniors.
Victor out-scored McQuaid 7-0 in the third quarter to put the game away with Marshall completing the hat trick and Gotham scoring three times to lead Victor with four goals.
With just one ball to go around, Gravino says it’s what the Blue Devils do without it that makes the difference.
“Off-ball movement is honestly the more important part of the game, off-ball cuts, off-ball picks, getting open for the guy with the ball, however you can make it easier on your teammates.”
The Knights scored twice in the fourth on a running clock with Nick Bianchi and Vincenzo Giangreco recording goals.
Canisius commit Brady Robinson, another junior, earned the victory in net for the Blue Devils (3-0), who host Pittsford Thursday and Niskayuna of the Albany area on Saturday.
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