San Clemente arrived at their field Saturday to find out that starting goalie Austin Boyer was ruled out due to an undisclosed injury, meaning freshman Garrett Silverman would get his first-ever varsity start between the pipes. Visiting Great Oak seized the opportunity taking a 2-0 lead and smelling a huge road upset as attack men Taylor DeJonge and Alex Cunningham (3 goals, 3 assists) notched quick goals. But SC stormed back to score 10 of the next 12 goals–High Point bound senior midfielder Peyton Garrett (3 goals, 1 assist) scoring twice and adding an assist on Austin Lickley‘s outside rip to trigger the response–and cruised to a 13-8 home victory. Senior face-off specialist Will Bozarth made a solid return for San Clemente, winning nine of 10 face-offs in the first half and adding an assist.
The No. 6 Tritons improve to 3-0; the loss is the first of the season for No. 7 Great Oak (3-1).
San Clemente’s defense knew they’d have to play well in front of the freshman Silverman, and play well they did. Silverman made three first half saves while defensive starters Stone Sims, Max Lepley and Caleb Bozarth worked hard to make life difficult for the Wolfpack. Senior LSM Adam Brownell had a huge game, winning a game-high seven ground balls and adding a forced takeaway for good measure. The teams traded goals in the first half, as Collin Zines (3 goals, 1 assist) and Jack Renard (1 goal, 2 assists) scored for SC while Great Oak’s DeJonge and Cunningham added their second each for a 5-4 SC half-time lead. Weston Gotuzzo had an assist in the half for Great Oak.
The Tritons found themselves penalized four times in the third quarter, but that setback didn’t phase them as they scored five unanswered goals–Zines twice, Austin Streeter (3 goals, 1 assist) twice and Garrett–to forge ahead 10-4. The lead stretched to 13-4 (Streeter, Lickley and Luke Hoerer scoring) before SC Coach Mike Hutnick began subbing liberally. Great Oak wouldn’t go quietly and scored the game’s final four goals for the final 13-8 margin. DeJonge completed his hat trick with his third rifle shot from outside while senior Hunter Campbell scored twice and Cunningham’s third completed the scoring.
Silverman finished with 7 saves on the day while facing 35 Great Oak shots. SC had 38 shots while Great Oak keepers had 7 saves.
STARS OF THE GAME:
1) SC’s Captains (Peyton Garrett, Collin Zines, Austin Streeter and Stone Sims): Garrett, Zines and Streeter each scored three goals and added one assist to lead the balanced Tritons offensive attack, while Sims played great defense and added an assist.
2) Alex Cunningham, attack, Great Oak: The man with the flow had a great game for the Wolfpack, notching 3 goals and 3 assists while constantly providing great feeds out front. The junior is one to watch.
3) Adam Brownell, defense, San Clemente: A senior LSM and defenseman, Brownell is super fast and has great stick skills for a defenseman. He posted seven ground balls on the day to lead the Tritons and added a nifty takeaway check.
HONORABLE MENTION
How could you not give props to a freshman goalie stepping in to see his first varsity action and notching a win? SC’s Garrett Silverman had seven saves and showed he can fill the pipes if needed in a big game.
–MaxLaxOC.com staff report
NOTE: This story was edited following a Great Oak stats change.
Cunningham 3 goals and 3 assists. All three goals are on your film footage. Thanks for the write up.
Scott, thanks for the email. We’ll make the change. Our stats guy had written Evan Ognjanac down for one of your goals. We’ll make that change.
You played a great game yesterday. Good luck this season!
–MaxLaxOC.com