“Big Tasty” is his name, and eating shots is his game.
Caleb Fyock, an Ohio State-bound junior, made 17 sensational saves for his St. John’s DC boys lacrosse team Friday, paving the way for an 11-5 takedown of St. Anthony’s during the GEICO Showcase at Cy Donnelly Field.
“I think the name definitely fits,” Fyock said, laughing. “I felt relaxed; my defense helped in that. They play a big part in my success.”
The win knocked the Friars out of the No. 1 spot in the National Lacrosse Federation and Nike/USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ National Top 25 standings, and put the Cadets in their place.
“When you look at our team there are no weaknesses at all, and that definitely is a huge part of why we’re in that No. 1 spot,” senior Mac Haley said. “I think that if we keep playing up to our standards, no one can beat us.”
Fyock’s stops and a few big forced turnovers by Lehigh University commit Richard Checo led to chances on offense that the Cadets (13-0) made sure to capitalize on. And Haley was generous in that department. The soon-to-be Navy attack scored three of St. John’s five goals for a 5-1 advantage heading into halftime.
“It definitely feels good to contribute to a big win like that, but I have to credit my teammates for getting me in positions to score,” Haley said. “I felt confident on the field today because I knew we were ready for the game after what we did to prepare.”
Drexel-bound Gavin Kelly said going up against his own defense in practice has helped his Cadets face a team like St. Anythony’s (8-1).
“Going against our defense every day in practice really helps us prepare for teams like St. Anthony’s,” Kelly said. “Our defense gets great looks in practice against our offense and vice versa. Our coaches have done an exceptional job preparing us for this game as well as all of the other ones this season. We had not had a game in almost two weeks due to Easter and Spring break, so we had a lot of extra time to watch film, get lifts and practice in in order to show up ready for this game.”
The senior attack also got some good looks, bookending Haley’s fourth goal with rocket shots of his own at the 9:04, 7:21 and 6:38-minute marks of the third to blow the game wide open, 11-3. Kelly and Haley both finished with four goals apiece, and sophomore attack Ryan Duenkel added two. Kelly’s first wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Fyock’s save seconds before. The goalie found Checo in transition, who passed the ball up to Duenkel, who dished it out it out to Kelly on the wing.
“Having him on our team makes everyone more confident,” Kelly said of Fyock. “Our defense has confidence knowing that he will save almost everything. Our offense is able to play freely and very fast, aggressive because other teams will not be able to go on scoring runs with him in cage.”
But the goalkeeper said he too feels relaxed in net knowing what kinds of threats he has out on the other end of the field. Haley said it definitely doesn’t hurt.
“It’s always great to have a lot of depth on offense, because if one guy is off his game that day another guy will step up. Today in the first half I had the hot hand, but got a little cold in the second half and slowed down, but Gavin Kelly stepped up,” the senior said. “It’s really hard for defenses to guard us with the amount of talent on our offense.”
Kelly echoed it’s crucial to have so many guys capable of scoring, saying it makes it difficult for any defense to cover them.
“A lot of teams have become slow to slide since they would be leaving someone so capable of scoring, making space for a lot of 1-v-1 or 2-v-2 goals in isolation, and that was especially true today,” the senior said. “It just feels great to finally have people recognize the work we have been putting in as a program the last four years.”
He said it’s especially special to be competing alongside Haley, who he’s been playing with since the pair were 7 years old.
“We have always had a high level of confidence in each other,” Kelly said, touting his teammate’s abilities, “and we complement each other’s game so well.”
Fyock, like his teammates, feel reassured by what they’ve been able to achieve, and believes his Cadets are closer now than ever.
“I think we deserve the number one spot because we are the number one team in the country,” the goalie said. “I feel like no team can compete with us at this point. I don’t care who you put us up against, we will give 100 percent and take what is ours.”
