JOHNSTOWN – The season has been a roller-coaster ride so far for the Johnstown boys lacrosse team.
The Sir Bills have put together strong outings in their three non-league games, coming away with a pair of victories and a one-goal loss. However, league competition has been a different story.
In a cold, steady rain Thursday at Knox Field, the Sir Bills dropped its Foothills Council match to South Glens Falls 15-3.
The score gives league opponents 33 goals against the Sir Bills 5, while in non-league games Johnstown has outscored its opponents 24-14.
“I think when we came out we knew we were against the Foothills, so we chose to come out and think we are in trouble because we are playing against a Foothills team,” Johnstown coach Scott Petrie said. “We had our heads low before we even came out. I am trying to convince these guys that we are good enough to play against these Foothills teams. Hopefully, they will figure it out and break that stigma. We need to get over that hump.”
South High got off to a quick start, outshooting the Sir Bills 7-4 in the opening 12 minutes with Andrew Patterson, Pat Kimmell and Callan LaMay scoring to put the Bulldogs in front 3-0.
Johnstown (2-3 overall, 0-2 Foothills) got a goal back in the opening minute of the second period when Jeremiah Robinson finished a pass from Jeremy Mowrey to cut the Bulldogs lead to 3-1.
As the rain intensified, so did the Bulldogs’ attack.
South High went on a 4-0 scoring run with Kimmell adding two more goals to his first-half credits, while Patterson and Pat Fish added one goal apiece to give the Bulldogs a 7-1 halftime lead.
The second half opened on a positive note for Johnstown as Dave Fahr collected the Sir Bills’ second goal of the game 42 seconds into the third period.
Less than a minute later Kimmell delivered his fourth goal of the game to give South High an 8-2 edge before LeMay struck again to put the Bulldogs up 9-2 heading into the final period.
LaMay struck again early in the fourth quarter for a 10-2 South Glens Falls lead before Robinson hit for his second goal of the game off an assist from Brandon Akey to put the score at 10-3.
South High controlled the final minutes of play adding five more goals to their total. Jake Normandin had two of the scores, while Ryan Bruno and Ben LaRose had one apiece and LaMay added his fourth goal of the game in the final seconds to close out the 15-3 win.
For the match South Glens Falls put 27 shots on net, while the Sir Bills had 17. Zack Simone collected 12 saves in goal for Johnstown, while Matt Brady had seven for the Bulldogs.
Kimmell and LaMay had four goals apiece for South High, while Patterson and Normandin had two apiece to go with single goals from Bruno, Fish and LaRose.
Robinson led the Sir Bills with two goals and Fahr had one.
“We are young,” Petrie said. “I didn’t expect to go out there and blow these guys out or anything but we still have to play with some heart.”
Johnstown was slated to host Maple Hill in a non-league contest Saturday; however, that game has been postponed. The Sir Bills will travel to take on Foothills rival Glens Falls Tuesday before returning to Knox Field Thursday to face Scotia-Glenville in a league contest.
