Hamburg Continues Dominance of Class B Boys Lacrosse

First-time Section VI boys lacrosse champions were crowned in both Class A and Class C on Wednesday at Williamsville North High School. It was business as usual in Class B.

The Bulldogs seized control with a surge late in the first half claimed their sixth straight championship and 11th in 12 years with an 11-6 win over a game Williamsville East team.

“It feels awesome,” Hamburg senior Jack Rettig said. “It’s just a tradition here and I’m glad we could carry on the legacy that so many in the past have left.”

The top-seeded Bulldogs struggled early on with Williamsville East’s zone defense early on and the Flames held a 2-1 lead late in the first half. Devin Collins tied it for the Bulldogs and in the last 35 seconds of the second quarter is really when Hamburg flashed its championship touch. Rettig gave the Bulldogs the lead with 34 seconds left and then A.J. DeMarco added another with just 1.1 seconds left before halftime.

“It was a huge turning point,” Williamsville East coach Ed Greenway said. “You battle, battle, battle and then you don’t battle for 30 seconds and that can hurt you in the back of the net. And it did. A good team is going to do that where we’re still learning that process.”

Senior captain Jared Milley added another for Hamburg early in the third but Will East had an answer with back-to-back goals by Joel Stoddard and Ryan Mitchell. The Bulldogs proved too tough, however, scoring the next four to seize command.

“We grabbed momentum,” Hamburg coach Jerry Severino said. “That’s what we talked about at halftime, ‘We’ve got the momentum now, let’s go.’ Well then almost evened it up but we did have the answer.”

The big part of that answer was the play of senior goalie Jake Phillips. He made 15 saves – including several big stops on an extended Flames power play late in the third when it was a one-goal game.

“The young man is one of the best goaltenders I’ve seen in this area in a long time,” Severino said.

Rettig and sophomore Spencer Nyhart had three goals and one assist apiece for the Bulldogs (13-5). Hamburg will play Section V champ Victor at 3 p.m. Saturday at All-High Stadium.

Williamsville East’s season ends at 12-6. Mitchell led the Flames with three goals.

“Extremely proud,” Greenway said. “They gave the effort we always ask. We made mistakes that a good team like Hamburg will take advantage of.”

Hamburg wins the Class B boys lacrosse championship, 11-6 over Williamsville East pic.twitter.com/hqI4YqzU0W — Mike Pidanick (@mkpidanick) May 30, 2018