Eagle Academy for Young Men II stuck to what it did all year and got a stellar performance from goalie Victor Godette to complete an undefeated championship season.
The top-seeded Eagle boys’ lacrosse squad ended its first varsity season in the Public School Athletic League with a 7–5 victory over No. 3 Bronx Science in the Class B title game at Aviator Sports Complex last Sunday.
Eagle coach Michael Skrilow knew staying composed was going to be key in such a big game.
“One of the things we talked about was not playing with desperation, not playing with your hair on fire, but rather playing with urgency, playing smart, playing focused,” Skrilow said. “Just playing our game, because that’s what we have been doing all year.”
The Bedford Stuyvesant school was able to feed off of the hot play of Godette in net. The junior, who made eight saves total, allowed one goal on six shots in the second half to hold off Bronx Science. Godette was named the game’s most valuable player.
“I got to get in front of the ball, get my head out of the gutter and play smart,” the goalie said.
Skrilow moved Godette from attack to goalie because he caught everything — and the move paid off.
“Victor has been a phenomenal goalie ever since I have known him,” the coach said. “Just as a goalie he had over 100 saves this season. One thing about Victor is he doesn’t get unnerved. He is just very focused in-goal.”
The Eagle offense was able to get just enough goals for the goalie to get the victory. The squad outscored Bronx Science 3–1 in the third quarter, the big goal coming from Kernell Warner, who had a hat trick in the contest. William Erwin scored three times and Giancarlo Zirpolo had two goals for Bronx Science. Warner, however, did enough to secure his team the win.
“Throughout the game, I kept on getting good looks and good shots,” Warner said.
Early in the game, Bronx Science (9–4) jumped out to a 2–1 advantage. But Eagle (13–0) was able to battle back and take a 4–2 lead on a score by Peter Miles with 8:38 to go in the second quarter.
Bronx Science scored back-to-back goals to tie the score at 4–4 before the half, and it looked like they had the momentum, but Skrilow adjusted the defense. That and the play of Godette allowed Eagle to gain it back. Eagle went up 7–4 with 1:59 to go in the third and never looked back.
“We talked at halftime about keeping possession on our side, and also just getting them out of the middle, moving the ball outside,” Skrilow said “They listened and executed.”
