East Aurora Advertiser

April Fuels Iroquois Boys Lacrosse Win Streak



The Iroquois boys lacrosse team improved to a midseason 5-3 record and hosted its first pair of home games of the season last week.

Jordan Blair, left, is in hot pursuit of a Frontier ball carrier in the home opening, 14-4 win for Iroquois last week.
Photo by Mark Jagord

The team has gone 4-0 in April after a 1-3 start in March and the Chiefs are now tied for second place in the division alongside Lake Shore. East Aurora is at the top of the nine-team division. During its four-game April win streak, a trio of players scored 41 of the team’s 60 goals while also being stingy on defense to prevent shots on goal. The last time the team put together a winning streak beyond four games was before any of its current members were in high school in 2015.

This year’s success is the byproduct of all facets of the game coming together under second-year head coach Rich Randall. On the attack, seniors Lucas Achman and Paul Fitzgerald co-lead the team on the season with 21 goals each while junior Michael Minich is third with 19. The trio has racked up 92 combined points so far this season with Achman and Fitzgerald at 31 points apiece and Minich with 30.

Iroquois goalkeeper Geno Drabek, center, gets congratulated by teammates Max Wozniak, left, and Andrew Boll, right, after the lacrosse home season opening victory against Frontier.
Photo by Mark Jagord

Gaining ball possession is the key to a potent offense and Andrew Boll has come through with 58 faceoff wins on the season while Jordan Blair has added 16. Both Adam Reichert and Jack Zeinski have a team-leading 37 combined ground balls and takeaways to date. Reichert has 28 ground balls and nine takeaways while Zeinski has 22 takeaways to go with 15 ground balls.

At the other end of the field, goalkeeper Geno Drabek has logged every second in goal, playing 384 minutes with a .512 save percentage after recording 63 saves from 123 shots so far on the season.

Last week, the team returned home for the first time this season and they didn’t disappoint with a pair of home wins beginning with a 14-4 victory over Frontier on April 8 and then with a 16-8 win over defending playoff champion West Seneca East on April 10.

Iroquois’ 60 goals in its last four wins has doubled its 30-goal March production. In addition, the Chiefs have outscored their opponents by a near 4-1 margin in surrendering only 17 goals in April. The ground ball game has also been very productive as the team has averaged 34 per-game during the current win streak.

Achman and Fitzgerald led the way against East with six points each. Achman accounted for all six of his points from goals while Fitzgerald finished with four goals and a pair of assists. Both players recorded nine shots each. Minich wasn’t far behind with a five-point effort with three goals, while Zac Vitez added a pair of goals and assists to round out the team’s top scorers and was dubbed the team’s best player by the coaching staff.

Half of the team’s 35 ground balls came from four players with Zeinski leading the way with six. Boll added five, while Drabek and Reichert each added four. Boll went 12-for-22 on faceoffs and Drabek recorded nine saves from 17 shots in the cage.

Mitchell Falkiewicz, left, applies defensive pressure on a Frontier player during last week’s Iroquois boys lacrosse home opener.
Photo by Mark Jagord

Just two days prior to its most recent win, the team won its home opener against Frontier with Minich having the hot stick with eight points. The junior attackman had a team-high six goals from seven shots to lead the way and alone had more goals than the opposition. Reichert was named the game’s top player after recording team-highs in ground balls with eight and takeaways with four. Drabek faced 10 shots and ended with six saves.

The month started with a 15-3 win at Depew on its brand-new turf field on April 3. Achman and Minich led the attack with five points each. Achman, Fitzgerald and Jake Dubisz each recorded three goals while Minich added a pair as the top goal producers. Boll took the distinction as the game’s top player after going 10-for-10 on faceoffs with a team-high 10 ground balls. Drabek faced five shots with a pair of saves.

Photo by Mark Jagord

The second win of the month came at Lewiston-Porter after the Chiefs produced their best winning margin of the season at 13 with a 15-2 win on April 5. Fitzgerald earned top game honors with an eight-point outing from three goals and five assists. Achman led the team in goals with five and finished with seven points. Vitez recorded a pair of goals to go with three assists for a five-point outing. Boll and Minich each registered four ground balls, while three ground balls each came from Max Wozniak, Mike Shady and Zeinski. Drabek collected five saves from eight shots.

With half of the team’s 16 games in the books, the next half of the remaining eight games will be home contests that begin in May. Iroquois’ next game before the school break is a key matchup at Lake Shore on April 17 at 5 p.m. The winner will have the best opportunity to catch frontrunner East Aurora for the regular season league title.

Photo by Mark Jagord

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