Olmsted Falls downs DeSales in state final
Saturday, June 3, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Olmsted Falls’ Jack Birch checks DeSales long stick middie Ryan Lee during the Stallions’ OHSAA Division II title game at Historic Crew Stadium June 3. Photo: Kevin Rouch
DeSales boys lacrosse coach Matt Triplet felt like he was skippering a sinking ship at times during the Stallions’ 13-9 loss to Olmsted Falls in the Division II state final.
The Bulldogs dominated in faceoffs 21-3.
But they also won in shots at 39-30 and ground balls 28-25 in winning their first state championships in their first appearance in a final.
“It was just a flurry of things that weren’t going well,” he said. “If one thing wasn’t going well, we’d fix it and then something else would spring open. It just wasn’t our day.”
Rocco Conti won 15 of the last 16 faceoffs for the Bulldogs (19-1).
“I was having a good day today (and) I was feeling good,” he said. “You build momentum. Sometimes you get in the other kid’s head. You got to be quick on it.”
Triplet said Conti turned towards his defensive backfield on faceoffs, which negated the advantage a little bit.
DeSales attacker Blake Carawan (2) celebrates his goal with teammates Jack Jordan (5) and Gabe Caruso during the Stallions’ game with Olmsted Falls June 3. Photo: Kevin Rouch
“We were trying to say (to Bryce Herrick) to just keep it on the ground and make it a 50-50 ball,” Triplet said. “Whereas you have other teams where the (faceoff specialist) is very good at pushing the ball forward. We were just trying to turn it into a 50-50 ball and fight for it and scrap for it and we just didn’t win a lot of those battles.”
DeSales (19-2) scored three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead with 2:58 left in the first quarter.
But Olmsted Falls scored 10 of the next 11 goals.
“Faceoffs hurt, but it was definitely missing shots or any shot we had on cage were right at the goalie and not making it difficult for him,” Triplet said. “Our clearing game wasn’t very good. We had bad outlets or made bad decisions in the open field. We weren’t stopping their transition. We weren’t sliding effectively (on defense).”
Candow led all goal scorers with five. Conti, Gavin Moore, and Alec Ignazio each had two goals and an assist, while Domonic Fusco added two goals for Olmsted Falls.
DeSales’ Bryce Herrick faces off with Olmsted Falls’ Rocco Conti during the OHSAA Division championship game at Historic Crew Stadium June 3. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Conti also had a game-best 12 assists and Colton Strunk had nine saves in goal for the Bulldogs.
“(It was) matchups,” Olmsted Falls coach Josh Piepenburg said. “We just picked and chose who we could go against. We had a great scouting report and we knew who we could dodge against. The guys went out there and got the job done.”
Ty Hampton had three goals, Blake Carawan and Gabe Caruso each had two goals and assist and Jack Jordan had two goals.
Caruso had five ground balls and Gavin Grimmet had 12 saves for the Stallions.
“The game itself was a disappointment,” Triplet said. “But the season overall was a great season. Going 19-2 and making it to the state finals and making it past (Cincinnati) Mariemont for the second year in a row in the final four. Those are all successes in my book.”