Bocklet Rocket, Stockel save day for John Jay
Indians crowned Class A lax kings, stun Yorktown 10-9 in OT

 

Jay keeper Connor Sweeney gets some love from teammate Mike Waxman.

Story by Ray Gallagher
John Jay High sophomore Christopher Bocklet hasn’t wasted any time splashing onto the Section 1 lacrosse scene.

After scoring 33 goals and 23 assists as a freshman in 2005, Bocklet has gone ahead and ripped off 42 goals and 24 assists in his sophomore season, but it’ll be that 42nd tally, which came against eight-time defending Section 1 champion Yorktown last Saturday, which lax fans in this neck of the woods will talk about forever: Call it the Bocklet Rocket!

Bocklet’s goal, which came off a nifty pump fake at 1:10 of sudden-death overtime, enabled reining Class B champion John Jay (18-2), the tournament’s top seed, to waltz off No.2 Yorktown’s Charlie Murphy Field with a thrilling 10-9 Section 1 Class A championship, the fifth in Jay history (first in Class A).

Since 1980, Yorktown has been to the sectional title game each year, winning 25 times in 27 years, with the 2006 team joining the 1997 club, which lost to Lakeland/Panas, as the only years it has failed to represent Section 1 in the state tournament. John Jay advanced to the state quarterfinal against Section 2’s Niskayuna at Panas High School last night (see related box). Yorktown finished at 13-7.

Bocklet’s man-up goal, his fourth of the game, would not have come to fruition if not for All-Section junior Kevin Stockel (2 goals), who bum-rushed Yorktown keeper Michael Bonitatibus (5 saves) from behind the cage with 24 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

“This definitely feels great,” said Bocklet, who, barring a setback the next two years, could become the first two-time All-American in Jay history.

Bocklet’s goal came seconds after the Indians were given possession following a delay-of-game penalty against Bonitatibus, a freshman who momentarily lost his cool when he tossed the ball several yards to his left after a push-from-behind call was made against Yorktown. Lacrosse rules are clear on such a play; the player is required to drop the ball directly to the ground to avoid any delay-of-game-type situations.

“A lot happened prior to that, but he has to understand that things like that can’t happen,” Husker coach Dave Marr said.

Prior to that, Yorktown was called for leaving the box toward the end of regulation, but the Husker faithful were looking for a push call, which never came. Instead, possession went to the Indians, which resulted in Stockel’s tally.

“Our long sticks were directing traffic,” Marr said. “Traditionally, we have a slide accounting for the kid behind the goal with a short stick on him, but we had a mix-up in communication.”

The mix-up led to overtime, in which Bocklet wasted no time, scoring off the second shot either team would take in OT.

“It’s the biggest game of the entire season,” Bocklet said. “The shot felt awesome. We never beat Yorktown (in playoff history), so this is the best feeling in the world.”

Overtime seemed only natural, what with the 48-hour delay between the end of the second quarter and start of the third due to assorted weather –related issues, which drove both teams and coaching staffs nuts.

“It was brutal,” All-Section John Jay junior Ryder Bohlander said of the wait. “The build up and the intensity of the situation were unbelievable. We had to come into Yorktown and play them for 24 minutes under the lights in their stadium, but we knew we had the team to do it this year, even though nobody else can do it. But we rewrote the record books.”
Upon resumption of the game, Yorktown, which trailed 3-2 at the break, came out fired up, scoring the first three goals to take a 5-3 lead. From there, it became a game of runs, momentum swinging like Tarzan from the vine. Jay scored five straight goals to take an 8-5 advantage.

Yorktown, though, clearly a dynasty with no quit, would pop the next four. Senior Jamie Goldberg’s second mark of the game gave the Huskers a 9-8 lead with 2:24 remaining. Yorktown was able to work 2:00 off the clack before Stockel recognized that he was working man-on-man with a short stick.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Stockel, who has 42 goals and 25 assists. “I told coach what I saw and I was only thinking one thing, ‘go to the goal’. I saw their long poles looking back at the box, and I don’t know what they were thinking. I just knew I had the shorty and I had to take him, go to the goal, put it in and put my hands in the air. And then Chris Bocklet, I love Chris Bocklet. He gives that fake up top, gets everybody looking around and just rips it.

That’s textbook stuff. You can’t teach anything better than that. This is for Johnny Carrozza and Pete Coluccini and all those guys from two years ago who lost to Yorktown by a goal.”

It all went down after a two-day delay due to some of the most torrential rain (accompanied by thunder and lightning) the area has seen in quite some time. Trailing 3-2 on Thursday, Yorktown would get the final 24 minutes started quickly on Saturday. Sophomore Brendan Kurpis, a good-looking attackman, scored at 9:46 of the third from senior middie Tom Interlicchio (1G, 2A) to tie it up. Just 44 seconds later, the Huskers would take the lead off a goal from Goldberg (2G, 1A). Interlicchio popped an unassisted, man-up rip at 7:32 and Jay looked like it had taken a collective back seat to the Yorktown mystique, which has swallowed many a team previously.

“They’re zone had stifled us over the first half and the beginning of the second,” Jay boss Nick Savastano admitted.

“We just said, ‘You know what, we’re too good for this. Run and gun at any cost’. We might give up some goals, which we knew we were going to by running and gunning, but before they can settle into that zone we were going to push, push, push. The game-plan almost backfired on us.”

Jay quickly gathered its composure, though, and went on a 5-0 run to seize momentum, getting third-period goals in succession from Bocklet at 6:19 (assisted by Jake DeCandia), Stockel at 5:14 and Matt Vibert at 1:57 (from Daniello). Bocklet and Kevin Drew (at 9:05 from Daniello) opened the fourth quarter with earnest, giving Jay an 8-5 lead.

The Huskers, though, in true dynasty fashion, had one last run in them. Kurpis cut the deficit to two at 8:49. DeLillo hit, man-up at 6:11 (from Goldberg). DeLillo then tied the game and let loose with a howl at 5:54. Goldberg gave the Huskers the lead for the second time (9-8), scoring at 2:24.

But along came Stockel and Bocklet, the two underclassmen with the weight of a rising lacrosse program on their backs next season, to score the two biggest goals in Jay history.

“Bocklet is built for this stuff,” Savastano stated. “He plays like a senior. The kid is so poised and that’s why I called that play for him at the end there. I knew he would stick it. We saw they had a short stick on Stockel and he’s not really a big dodger, but when they put a shorty on him we had to go after that.”

But in between Stockel and Bocklet came the save of the season by John Jay goalie Connor Sweeney, the senior who has made big save after big save all year. Interlicchio’s crank before the end of regulation was ticketed for twine, but Sweeney, in the right place at the right time, soaked the shot in his web, ankle high.

“I was just fortunate enough to see the ball come out of his stick,” said Sweeney, who should get serious All-American consideration. “We know what kind of a shooter T.I. is, and we’d been working on stopping his shot all week. So I just got low and to make that save with nine seconds left… safe to say that was the biggest save of my career. I’m still speechless. I can’t even think. We knew what kind of fight we were in for.”

It was the fight of their lives, according to the Syracuse-bound Daniello, who finished with a goal and three assists.

“This is awesome… it was one hell of a game,” said Daniello, who added to his section-best point total (97). “Both teams gave one hell of an effort. If I could give this plaque to the seniors of two years ago, for starting all of this, I would. It’s unbelievable; I don’t even know what to say. Bocklet made a great fake and shot and Stockel coming around the cage was awesome.”

Awesome for John Jay, yes, and devastating for Yorktown.

“At least we didn’t go out with a stinker,” Marr said.

Anything but.