State Champions!

Following a run through the district and regional tournaments, the Warhawks opened the state tournament at home on Friday, May 31 against W.T. Woodson High School. In the quarterfinal game against Woodson, Madison jumped out to an early lead when Zach Hanzlik scored an unassisted goal at the 10:30 mark in the first period. The Madison defense frustrated the Cavaliers from the beginning of the game as Charlie Hassett had two early saves that kept them scoreless to give the Warhawks the momentum. Madison would go on to score five more goals by Hanzlik, Patrick Ruffolo, and Brendan Wyka and by the end of the third quarter, had a comfortable 6-0 lead. Woodson would not get on the board until the 9:30 mark in the fourth quarter when they scored off a deflection off a Warhawks player’s helmet. Woodson would score two more goals but with the Warhawks controlling the time of possession, they were able to control the clock to secure the 6-3 victory, setting up the state semi-final game against the South County Stallions.

It was the Stallions this time that struck first in the semi-finals. Just 20 seconds after the opening face-off, they scored and Madison found themselves down 1-0. The next eleven minutes of the opening quarter, both defenses held their opponents scoreless. As time was winding down in the quarter, Hassett hoisted a three-quarter field toss into a group of Warhawk attackmen and SoCo defenders. Michael Leone came out of the mob with the ball and as time expired and the horn sounded he ripped an eight yard shot to the back of the net. The sideline referee initially waived off the score, but after a conference of the four referees, they concluded the score was good and the first quarter ended in a 1-1 tie. Early in the second quarter, Madison’s defender Joey Jorgenson created a turnover and received a cross check to the back drawing a flag and giving Madison a man up opportunity. Hanzlik took advantage of the situation and scored quickly to give Madison the 2-1 lead. Madison extended the lead to 5-2 with two goals by Timmy Palmer and Leone’s second of the night. SoCo would not be denied though. They came out in the second half and scored four unanswered goals during a five minute stretch in the third quarter to go up 6-5. Ruffolo countered with a score at the twenty-seven second mark in the third to tie the game. SoCo opened the fourth with another goal to take their third and final lead of the evening. With a state title appearance on the line, it was the Warhawks this time that would not be denied. John Hollingsworth, who had been quiet during the two state games to this point, picked up an errant ground ball and raced to the goal for a score to tie the game and within a minute Hanzlik would add a go ahead goal to take an 8-7 lead. Then, as it had done all season, the Madison defense found a surge of energy against SoCo’s aggressive offense. In the last five minutes of the game, David Hibbs’ had two caused turnovers and Charlie Hassett had three saves in goal. But SoCo still did not give up and had one final chance to tie the game in the last ten seconds. As a scrum ensued in front of the crease, the ball flew up in the air and Sam Nunez reached up with his long pole and secured the ball and quickly raced toward the sideline to run out the clock. Madison survived and moved on to their first state title game in six years and only the second in school history.

Madison would face a Robinson team that won their two state tournament games with relative ease. However, from the very start of the game, Madison would score quick and score often to put the Rams at an early disadvantage. After Cole DeFreitas opened the game with a face off win, John Hollingsworth got a feed from Michael Leone to take the lead just forty-five seconds into the contest. Madison would score four minutes later after a defensive stop by Joey Jorgenson who fed Hollingsworth with the pass that led to an unassisted clear and the goal for a 2-0 Madison lead. Hollingsworth, who finished with four goals and three assists on the afternoon, then found Patrick Ruffolo for a man up goal at the 4:30 mark in the quarter. After a big save by Charlie Hassett, one of his 18 saves on the day, Hollingsworth scored another unassisted goal inside two minutes. As the first quarter clock was winding down, Robinson was looking to score, however, with eight seconds to play Wolfie Gottschalk got into the action as he stripped a Robinson midfielder with an aggressive rip to end the quarter. The Rams opened the second quarter with an early goal which was countered by goals from Timmy Palmer and Zach Hanzlik as the Warhawks took a 6-1 lead into the half. Rams scored again early in the third quarter. But the Warhawks were having nothing of it, as they countered with five unanswered goals and 11 second half saves by Hassett. The final straw for the Rams occurred during a nine minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters where Robinson had one failure to clear and two turnovers, giving even more momentum to the Warhawks. So much momentum that two defenders got into the scoring action when Brett Hanton and Sam Nunez, aided by a 50 yard pin-point pass from Jorgenson, both scored late goals. Hassett’s performance in goal was underscored by a defense led by senior Kevin Lyons who’s aggressive and suffocating play eliminated any penetration from the Ram’s attack. The Rams would score a late goal, and with 45 seconds remaining in the game, Coach Solomon put in his graduating seniors to finish the game with an 11-3 win.

Trying to capture a single highlight of the Warhawk’s performance in the VHSL Class 6 Boys State Lacrosse Championship Game is difficult. You could talk about a goalie who had 18 saves; you could talk about winning more than fifty percent of face-offs; you could even talk about an offense that scored eleven points in the title game. Or perhaps you focus on a defense that held one of the most formidable offenses in the state to just three goals; or maybe two long pole defenders scoring the last two goals of the game; or maybe even that special moment when a group of dedicated seniors, who all played their final game, ended their careers on the field and as the clock expired their teammates embraced them in victory. Wherever you start, the ending is the same for the Warhawks, a team effort of epic proportions that brought home the state championship trophy for the first time in the 29 years that Madison has fielded a varsity lacrosse team.

In the ultimate game, on the ultimate stage, Coach Aaron Solomon’s team gave the ultimate performance leaving no doubt that Madison (20-2) was the best team on the field.