By Nick Cammuso
FAIRMONT — Given what was at stake, neither the Fairmont Senior or Wheeling Central Catholic boys’ lacrosse teams were lacking motivation entering Saturday’s showdown.
The winner would clinch the No. 2 seed and first-round bye in the upcoming state playoffs. The loser ... well, the Polar Bears preferred not to think of the alternative.
So they made sure that never happened, using a well-rounded first half and goals from seven players en route to a 12-4 victory.
Fairmont Senior wraps up the regular season at 12-2, including 10-1 in the WVSLA. More importantly, the win earns the Polar Bears a spot in the state semifinals next Saturday, set for 11:30 a.m. at East-West Stadium.
Tied with Wheeling Central for the second spot entering play, Fairmont Senior wasted no time getting some separation.
David Bonazza scored three first-period goals for the Polar Bears, and did so with a dash of variety.
His first came from close range and tied the game at 1-1, the second he spun around the net and beat the goalie. As for the third, he beat the clock, taking a long pass and dropping in a shot from about 15 feet out with just 5.2 seconds left.
In the second, Bonazza set a pick that led to a Louie Romano goal and added a fourth score later in the period.
“He broke it open,” Fairmont Senior coach Jarrott Brogdon said.
He wasn’t alone. For a good while, the Polar Bears essentially set up shop in the offensive end, holding a 20-6 edge in shots in the second period alone. In all, Fairmont Senior took 50 shots, Wheeling Central Catholic 28.
Travis DeVault, Johnny Leon and Brad Cox added goals in the quarter for the Polar Bears, who led 8-2 at the half.
“We had the ball,” Brogdon said matter-of-factly. “I think for the most part we played very smart and took care of our scoring opportunities when we had them. Anytime when we have the ball, we’re a threat to score. I don’t know know what (Wheeling Central’s) situation was today, but I thought they’d be a lot faster. I was surprised we were able to get past them so easily.”
As always, the key was finding balance: The more Polar Bears who are able to score, the less other teams can latch on to any one player and take them out of the game.
“One game Dave (Bonazza) will have a big game, another Travis (DeVault) will have a big game. We want to get as many guys involved in the scoring as possible so teams can’t key (on any one player).”
That proved true in the second half, too. While neither Bonazza or DeVault found the back of the net again, the team got two goals from Nate Freeland and another from Brian Bacza to close the afternoon’s scoring.
Tyler Ross added 12 saves in goal for the Polar Bears.
E-mail Nick Cammuso at ncammuso@timeswv.com.
