Reds remain unbeaten
The Denis Morris Reds boys field lacrosse team putting the finishing touches on an undefeated Niagara Catholic Athletic Association regular season in impressive fashion Tuesday at Notre Dame.
The defending Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association AAA champions and sixth-place finishers last year at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships defeated Holy Cross 17-1 and Blessed Trinity 19-1.
The Reds will now await the winner of the Blessed Trinity/Notre Dame semifinal to see who they play in the NCAA AAA final May 15 at 12:30 p.m. at Notre Dame.
“After COVID, we didn’t really know what we had and then we came back and had a good group of Grade 9 kids come in,” Denis Morris head coach Matt Vinc said. “We have a lot of triple A hockey kids and now they are in Grade 11 and 12 and we are looking really deep.”
Forty players attended tryouts and the squad has 30 kids combined on its practice and game roster.
“It’s kind of thriving with all the hockey, basketball and lacrosse kids who are players and when you have them for a few years it really helps,” he said. “Then we get blessed with nine kids who played midget lacrosse come in as Grade 9s. Those are the guys getting in late in games and you can see that they can play at a pretty high level as well.”
Helping to build the program was the fact that the Reds made it to OFSAA last year.
“A lot of those kids were Grade 10s and we only lost three kids from last year. We will lose four Grade 12s this year so our team is relatively young even though we have a lot of numbers,” Vinc said. “Once you see a team go to OFSAA and do relatively OK with a young team, then it seems like a buddy comes out and other guys come out because they want to be a part of it. It’s hard to get to OFSAA and it’s hard to do well there.”
Chosen as the Reds’ player of the game in the win over Holy Cross was Dominic DiFrancesco.
“He never played lacrosse until high school and he is a guy that does a lot of good things for our team,” Vinc said. “He was a guy who I don’t think could pass or catch and now he is a long stick who picks up all the loose balls. He is a good team guy, one of our captains and does a lot for us.”
The Grade 12 student got a late start to his lacrosse season because he was part of the Fort Erie Meteors junior hockey team’s run to a Golden Horseshoe title and a 1-3 record in the Sutherland Cup round robin.
“It was awesome winning the conference finals but it sucked that we ended up short and weren’t able to make it to the Sutherland but it was a great run,” the 18-year-old St. Catharines resident.
He ended up missing a ton of lacrosse practices and the team’s first two league games.
“The second I was done, I rested up and I was able to come play here.”
He has loved playing field lacrosse since his Grade 10 year. The Grade 9 season was cancelled because of COVID.
“My Grade 10 year I was new to everything and I was learning how to catch and throw. By Grade 11, everything came natural,” he said. “It was sort of similar to hockey and when I would go home, I would practice in my garage against the wall. It became second nature like I played it my whole life.”
Those skills came in handy when the team made it to OFSAA.
“I could show my speed and I could show that I had some skill out there. I was able to help my team out and help us win a lot of games.”
There is no secret to his success at retrieving loose balls.
“When I go out there, I know my job is to pick up loose balls. I use my strength and speed to get position on guys and I just pick it up and run.”
He takes his captaincy seriously.
“I like being vocal, especially to help the younger guys get into position and make them feel that they belong. If someone is being hard on them, I will be there for them to teach them and explain how to do things.”
This will be DiFrancesco’s last season as a Reds lacrosse player. He is graduating this spring and his post secondary destination will depend on how it fits in with his hockey pursuits.
“Hockey is my No. 1 and I am hoping I can do big things next year.”
Scoring for the Reds versus Holy Cross were Michael Welsh (3), Alex Forest (3), Mason Elliott (2), Easton Lynds (2), Matthew DiPietro (2), Liam Laroque, Cody Rudderham, Troy Murray, Brady Howe and Jack Millar.
Netting goals for Denis Morris against Blessed Trinity were Welsh (7), Forest (3), DiPietro (2), Rudderham, Murray, Lynds, Elliott, Howe, Carson Dickinson and Adrian Crzanowski.
With a pair of losses Tuesday, Notre Dame concluded the regular season with a record of 1-5.
“One-goal losses and credit to our goalie (Nathan Builiung) who has been unbelievable for every game that we have played,” Notre Dame head coach Mark Ianizzi said. “Our long poles and defensive midfielders are doing well but there was a little bit of uncertainty around their net with our attack. We had a couple of bad drops but otherwise we are right in all these games and we are going to try and clean that up in the offensive zone a little bit more and then we should be putting the ball in the net a little bit more.”
Ianizzi describes his roster as young but passionate.
“They are growing by leaps and bounds every game and I like the trajectory that we are on because we are soon into the elimination game. I think we are going to be at our peak right at playoffs.”
