Herkimer, NY - Onondaga fell in the Region 3a Championship last night to the No. 1 Mohawk Valley Hawks at Herkimer Community College. The Lazers had nothing short of a thrilling 110 minutes of play with double overtime and forcing penalty kicks to decide the final outcome. Adversity in weather conditions and frequent injuries proved to be no match for either team as they battled it out from start to finish.

The Lazers' frame of mind was at an all time high at the start of this game, hungry for a trip to the national tournament. Receiving a penalty kick in the first 10 minutes gave the Lazers an opportunity to go up on the No. Hawks early on. But the Mohawk Valley goalie denied that chance for Onondaga. The teams battled hard in the physical game forcing a cluster of injuries all at once for both teams around the 18 minute mark losing Sophomore Thomas Johnson and a quick break for Sophomore Samuel Gregson. Gregson returned to the field hungry for a win for Onondaga. With another scoring opportunity with 7:17 remaining in the first half, an intentional foul on the Hawks' goalie resulted in an ejection and the Hawks to play man-down for the remainder of the game. Utilizing this advantage, Onondaga scored their first goal in the second half at 30:30 off a corner kick. This goal would essentially be called off to a questionable foul call on the Lazers and remaining a 0-0 game. The Lazers proved to maintain offensive possession for most of the game with numerous shots on goal. Their final scoring opportunity came with 1:13 remaining in regulation on a free kick. Not able to capitalize, the Region III championship would live up to the hype and be forced into overtime.

After two long, scoreless 10 minute overtimes, the score still remained 0-0 forcing penalty kicks to decide the game. With goals scored by Gursharndeep Singh off the cross bar and Jack Hopson, it wouldn't be enough to match the Hawks' 3, taking a heartbreaking loss and end to the season.

All-Region Team
Jack Hopson
Tyler Wavercak
Samuel Gregson
Matthew Stasyuk
Jordan Williams

All-Tournament Team
Samuel Gregson
Ewan O'Dwyer-Hall


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