by Connor Keough
A strong second quarter for Garden City was enough for the Trojans to defeat Massapequa 12-3 on Wednesday, April 10. The Chiefs had no answer for Garden City’s four goal second frame which ultimately sunk them in the end.
Andrew Ottomanelli scored five goals in the game for the Trojans and was a real standout player.
Garden City’s domination started with Luke Cascadden winning the opening faceoff, something he would do a lot of today. From then on the Trojan’s had the edge in time of possession which led to drawing a man up opportunity within the first five minutes.
Ottomanelli broke the ice moments later to give Garden City the first lead of the game. Massapequa responded quickly with one of their own by freshman Nolan Wieczorek.
Garden City and Massapequa traded goals one more time before Dan Medjid scored the go ahead goal to make the game 3-2. Cascadden chipped in one off the faceoff just seconds later to double the Trojans advantage.
“Luke had a strong day in the faceoff x,” said Garden City head coach Steve Finnell. “It’s a game of runs and he scored a big goal to make the game 4-2 in the second quarter. That’s when we started ours.”
Cascadden’s importance could not be overstated as the Trojans out possessed the Chiefs heavily due to controlling more faceoffs. And when they didn’t have the ball, they were able to hold strong on the backend.
“Matt Kephart is the ringleader of the defense,” said Finnell. “Our defensive midfielders have all been here for a long time and know what it takes to win.”
Garden City held the Chiefs scoreless for the rest of the half and recorded two of their own. After a close first quarter, Garden City took a comfortable four goal lead into the half.
Massapequa continued to live in a nightmare scenario in the second half as they allowed six goals in the 24 minutes. Conversely Garden City limited their quality chances greatly after halftime.
Three Garden City players scored multiple goals in the game. Medjij completed the hat trick and Cascadden scored twice. Ottomanelli added to his total in the second half by scoring three consecutive goals for the Trojans, to mark a game high five goals.
“He had over 40 goals last year and he’s our leading scorer again. He’s thrilling and he keeps getting better and better each game.” said Finnell.
Garden City improves to 5-2 and next plays on Friday at 4:30 against Mepham.
Massapequa falls to a record of 3-4. They do not take the field again until Saturday in a non-league game against Lakeland.
