New Egypt perseveres despite a tough season

BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer

PLUMSTED — Despite a year that has been overshadowed with setbacks and disappointments, there still have been a few high points for the New Egypt High School boys lacrosse team during the 2005 campaign.

One of those highlights came last week as the Warriors got a big effort from junior midfielder Greg Sonday en route to defeating a scrappy Ranney School squad, 8-5, in a nonconference game.

New Egypt improved to 2-7 overall.

“There have been points in the season when it has been extremely frustrating,” New Egypt coach Jay Corby said. “But the kids have worked hard despite of all the tough times. We have a lot of youth on this team, so this season we found ourselves overmatched in a few of the games. But competing against the better teams is only going to make this program better in the future.”

Sonday, who along with teammate Shane Angus, have fueled the New Egypt offense for most of the season, scoring a game-high six goals. The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder proved too quick for the Ranney defense. In addition, Sonday assisted on both of New Egypt’s other goals.

“He has been playing really well all season,” Corby said. “He is an extremely athletic kid. He found himself in a position where he could take advantage of his speed and quickness against Ranney. He gave their defense fits trying to guard him.”

Sonday’s penetration of the Ranney defense combined with his lightning-quick release resulted in the Warriors darting out to a 5-1 cushion.

“He seemed to be involved in every offensive play that we had during this game,” Corby said. “He has the ability to make things happen for us. When he was being doubled, he gave the ball up to the open man. We need to do more of that.”

A defensive lapse allowed Ranney to claw back in the game. New Egypt led at halftime, 5-2. Ranney scored three consecutive goals in the second half to knot the score at 5-5.

Billy Shelton scored three goals on long-range shots to tie the game.

“We had a slight lapse in defense, but the three goals were very nice shots,” Corby said. “Still, I had confidence that we would be able to gather ourselves and come out on top.”

Indeed, the Warriors offense remained patient, finding the open man and working until they found high-percentage shots. New Egypt scored the next three goals to seal the victory.

“At that point in the game, we needed to regroup and not panic,” Corby said. “Offensively, we did an excellent job at that point. The momentum had shifted and we needed to get on the board to bring it back our way.”

Angus scored one of his two goals to give the Warriors a 6-5 lead. The junior attack was one of the team’s leading scorers last season with 29 goals.

“Notching that next goal was huge,” Corby said. “It got us back on track. From that point on we were able to close the game out.”

Anthony Denby and freshman Jorge Benualos split time in goal. Benualos made eight saves in the fourth period.

“The goaltending was very good,” Corby said. “There were a lot of key stops made late in the game. The defense gave the offense a boost. When you can turn away a good scoring opportunity for the opponent, it raises the confidence of the entire team.”