Irish hold off Myer for Zone 3 crown
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish don’t make a move without Max Brook.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student runs the offence and can also put the ball in the net when required.
Brook fired three goals Thursday to lead the Fighting Irish past the A.N. Myer Marauders 7-6 in the Zone 3 AAA high school field lacrosse final at Sir Winston Churchill.
The Irish now advance to the Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association (SOSSA) AAA championship game versus the Denis Morris Reds next week.
“I play X behind the net and that’s more of dish and assist and set up goals so the other kids can have fun too, not just me,” Brook explained.
Notre Dame head coach Mike Hominuck is well aware how important Brook is to his squad.
“He’s the man where all the play goes through. He’s that X. If you don’t have him . . . He’s our offensive leader,” Hominuck said. “We need him to step up and today our best players stepped up for us. Not just him, but (Nick) Rubino, and (Justin) Porga, our Grade 12 guys, are stepping up at the right time.
“In order to win, you need your best guys to be your best guys.”
Brooks scored his three goals in quick succession in the third quarter as ND built a 6-3 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
“It was nice that I could do something good for the team and now we can go on to the next round and know that I contributed,” Brook said. “It was nerve wracking at the start, for sure, then near the end we got a few goals and it turned into fun.”
Brook also plays box lacrosse at the junior B level for the Welland Generals.
“Box helps so much in having your stick in close and coming around the net and being able to go either way and being able to pass,” he said.
The Irish appeared to have things under control until the Marauders scored three times in the final quarter to make things interesting.
“We came in thinking we were going to kill them,” Brook said. “It was the same thing as last year. It was a close game. We weren’t underestimating them. We knew we had to put it all on the line.”
Hominuck felt his team let the Marauders back in the game.
“We had a couple of mental mistakes at the worst time that kind of led to some momentum changes,” he said. “Kudos to them. They capitalized and almost tied the game.”
Myer coach Nathan Gatt was thrilled with his squad’s effort.
“For a bunch of kids who don’t play lacrosse to come together like this, they played awesome,” he said. “Notre Dame is a solid lacrosse school with two pro coaches.”
Gatt feels the school’s field lacrosse program is only going to improve.
“Myer is known as a school of athletics but this puts Myer on the map. Even at our own school, we’re not relevant. Now we are. This is important.”
The Fighting Irish will be in tough at SOSSA against a strong DM squad.
“I’m not a big fan of DM so I want to do well. It would be wicked to go to OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) in my last year,” Brook said.
“I’m feeling it already. I’m feeling the nervousness today and I’m sure it will be that much more next week,” Hominuck added.
STATS PACK
Fighting 7 Irish Marauders 6
Johnny Rocco’s/Mick and Angelo’s Player of the Game: Notre Dame’s Max Brook with three goals.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Brook 3; Dylan Dekoe 2; Justin Porga; Ryan Andrews.
A.N. Myer Marauders: Maverick Gatt 3; Trent Hunter 2; Joe Fragnito.
Up next: The Irish advance to the SOSSA AAA championship game versus the Denis Morris Reds Thursday, May 23 at 11:30 a.m. at Youngs Sportsplex.
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