It’s been one of the finest seasons in the history of the Lancaster High School boys lacrosse team. On Thursday, the Legends hope to make some history.
For the second straight season, Lancaster will play Orchard Park in the Class A Section VI championship game at 5 p.m. Thursday at All-High Stadium. The Legends have never won a sectional title in boys lacrosse. The Quakers have won 24 – in the last 26 years.
But Lancaster is looking forward to the ultimate challenge.
“We’re excited about it,” Legends coach Ron Mazur said. “We played them; it was the second game of our season. We’ve gotten better and I’m sure they have too. You’ve got to respect them, they’re the big one on the block but our kids are going to be ready to play.”
The two teams played once in the regular year and it was very early. Lancaster dropped a hard-fought 10-8 verdict at Orchard Park on March 30. More than two months later, the Legends are ready for another try.
“We’ve got the athletes that can compete with them,” Mazur said. “It’s going to be a great game; we’re looking forward to it.” OP will be gunning for its sixth straight championship and 22nd in the last 23 years. In that run, only Clarence in 2011 was able to knock off the Quakers. Last spring, Lancaster reached the sectional title game but lost 15-4 to OP at All-High.
But with a lot of that team back, Lancaster has enjoyed a stellar season. The Legends enter the title game with a 16-1 record and on a 15-game winning streak. It starts with defense for the Legends, who are led by junior Ben Mazur, who is headed to Canisius College.
Lancaster averages less than 5.5 goals per game and the loss to OP marked the only time all year the Legends yielded double-digit goals in a game.
“Our D has been great all year,” Ron Mazur said. “Everything is working well/ They’re buying into the system, they’re communicating well out there and then you have a really good goalie back there, it makes things easier too.”
Offensively, Lancaster is led by junior Brett Beetow, who has scored a team-best 51 goals. Junior Ben Napieralski has added 40 more and junior CJ DiRienzo has scored 39.
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