Senior Thomas Goldszer didn’t wake up Saturday morning with thoughts of face-offs.
But with teammate and FOGO (face-off, get-off) specialist Wilson Redd taking a college entrance exam, Goldszer was the next man up against Marin Catholic, one of the top teams from Northern California.
Not only did the fearless Goldszer battle all game long at the face-off dot, he scored the winning goal in a physical, back-and-forth 10-9 Garnet victory.
With just over a minute to play, Redd, who had just put his No. 2 pencil down, grabbed his face-off stick and came out onto the field to win the biggest face off of the game, leading to Goldszer’s winning goal.
In coach Jermey Guski’s mind, Goldszer was unquestionably the Man of the Match.
“Thomas Goldszer played his butt off today, battled so hard on the draw all afternoon,” Guski said. “To see him get that last goal was great to see. We were a little sluggish early, but I loved how we rose to the challenge. Total team effort and really glad we came out on top.”
The game at Nugent Stadium was Marin Catholic’s third in five days—a tough assignment for any team. Wildcat coach BJ Grill, a former professional lacrosse player and Marquette All-American, was also pleased with his team’s effort.
“We’re pretty much toward the end of our regular season now,” said Grill, whose team ranks No. 3 in the state of California. “A lot of travel and a lot of lacrosse for our boys on this East Coast road trip, but we use this trip as a kind of capstone for our season. We’ve got our section tournament in a few weeks plus an in-season, four-team annual event called The Catholic Cup. There’s no state tournament in California high school lacrosse, so the section and The Cup are both huge for us.”
Marin Catholic jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first quarter of play, but senior Henry Shoemaker (three goals), junior Henry Gilroy (two), sophomore Will Niejadlik (two) and senior Carson Miller (two) brought the Garnets all the way back within one at the end of the third.
The Garnets pulled even in the fourth, then clinched the comeback victory on Goldszer’s gem.
“In tough games against good teams like today, during the course of the game you’ve got to show your grit, lift your teammates up, and just embrace the grime,” Guski said. “We’re playing a tough pre-season schedule this year, but that’s by design. We’re a good team, and win or lose, we’re getting better with each game we play. Really proud of these boys today.”
After opening the month of April facing top teams from Long Island and California, the Garnets’ next game is against an opponent closer to home. Rye travels to Cross River to face John Jay at 6 p.m. Thursday.
